An ancient travel book and its legendary writer are now back in the public eye, as China has recently set its National Tourism Day on the date when the writing of the book started.

The National Tourism Administration of China (CNTA) announced Tuesday in Beijing that China's National Tourism Day will fall on May 19 every year starting this year.

About 400 years ago, Xu Xiake, a famous traveler and geographer in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), wrote the masterpiece "Travel Notes of Xu Xiake" to document every step of his travels around the country.

Xu travelled around China for more than 30 years and he started writing his travel book in Ninghai County, east China's Zhejiang Province on May 19, 1613. Since 2000, Ninghai has proposed time and again to the central government to set this day as National Tourism Day.

As recorded in the book, the first place Xu traveled to was Taintai Mountain in Tiantai County, Zhejiang Province, where he wrote about the mountain's sceneries.

The decision to establish the National Tourism Day on May 19 was made after nearly one million Internet users partook in a poll to determine the exact date.

Other popular dates included May 29, the day Xu started his trip and Dec. 26, the birthday of Mao Zedong.

Lin Guogan, an official of Tiantai County, said that the establishment of a National Tourism Day was not only due to China's booming tourist market, but also a reflection of Chinese people's respect for their history and traditional culture.