Festival to honor Chinese explorer kicks off

The 12th Ninghai Xu Xiake Tourism Festival kicked off in Ninghai, a county in Zhejiang province, on Monday to commemorate Xu Xiake, a famous Chinese explorer during the 17th century.

Xu, regarded as the Chinese Marco Polo, started his 28-year journey around China on May 19, 1613, from Ninghai. His travel journal was one of the most important records of ancient China.

In 2011, May 19 was designated as China's national tourism day.

In 2012, Ninghai, together with 27 other cities and regions, created a map of Xu's travels and applied for World Lineal or Serial Cultural Heritage status.

Ninghai constructed a 500-km walking and hiking track for tourists to enjoy the route Xu took 401 years ago.

Jin Jianfan, deputy director of the Chinese Culture Promotion Society, said applying for world cultural heritage status can help protect the tourism spots Xu visited.

"As a great explorer in ancient China, Xu Xiake served as a symbol of exploration and never giving up, which is important for people nowadays to learn," Jin said. "Europe has the great Marco Polo, China should have its own Xu Xiake."

The county with a population of 620,000 received 8.9 million tourists in 2013.