Lijiang wins travel awards for its charm

Jiang Maosen (R), deputy mayor of Lijiang accepts the honor on behalf of Lijiang on May 20 in Beijing. [Photo/xinhuanet.com]

The first "Xu Xiake Travel Award" was announced in Beijing on May 20 during which Lijiang of Yunnan province won the title of "the most attractive tourist city", the Old Town of Lijiang was awarded with "the most characteristic tourist attraction".

Jiang Maosen, deputy mayor of Lijiang accepted the honor on behalf of Lijiang and made a keynote speech to promote the tourism and culture of the popular tourist city.

Named after Xu Xiake, a geographer and explorer of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) who left behind the famous travel note "The Travel Diaries of Xu Xiake", the award is set up to encourage the public to be a part of the tourist activities and boost the tourism industry.

May 19 was celebrated as the "China Tourism Day", set by the State Council in 2011. The government has since released a couple of policies to improve the public's knowledge of the tour and arouse people's enthusiasm.

Lijiang received 40.69 million tourists in 2017, a 15.6 percent increase from the previous year. The city's tourism revenue reached 82.1 billion yuan ($12.85 billion) in 2017, a growth of 35.01 percent year-on-year.

Jiang makes a keynote speech to promote the tourism and culture of Lijiang, one of the hottest tourist cities in China. [Photo/xinhuanet.com]