The annual tourism festival named after Xu Xiake. 徐霞客开游节盛况。[Photo by Wang Peng] 王鹏 摄
By Gou Wen
Xu Xiake was a "travel blogger" in ancient China. According to his travel notes, Xu has traveled to more than 20 provinces and cities. On May 19, 1613 A.D., he left the Ximen (West Gate), Ninghai and began his 34-year adventure.
At that time, there were no vlogs or social media platforms, so he recorded what he saw and felt, and wrote a travel book, which was known as The Travel Notes of Xu Xiake.
在那个没有Vlog和社交平台的时代,他将自己的所见所感写成了《徐霞客游记》。
The hundreds-of-thousands-of-word book does not only contain valuable records about the great rivers and mountains of China, but also is a valuable literary work.
这本几十万字的游记不仅记录了中国的大好河山,同时也是一部很有价值的文学作品。
Since 2002, Ninghai has held the tourism festival named after Xu 19 times. As the first station of Xu's journey, this year, the county was also designated the main venue for Zhejiang to mark National Tourism Day.