New tourism trends

Qinghai province, in China's northwest, is marking the day with a five-day cultural festival that highlights nature-centric traveling that respects the environment.

"We need to develop our tourism industry with ecological protection as a priority," said Chang Hongan, vice director of Qinghai Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.

As part of the activities taking place between May 19 and 23, experts and scholars will be invited to discuss the different ways of "building an international ecotourism destination" in Qinghai.

Other provinces like Jiangsu, Shandong and Jiangxi are also following suit, encouraging ecological tourism.

Another trend making a comeback is red tourism, whereby travelers visit sites and towns of great significance in the history of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The country this year is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the CPC foundation.

"Developing red tourism in an innovative way to satisfy more tourists is becoming an important direction and the main content of tourism development," said Dai Bin, the director of China Tourism Academy, a Beijing-based research institution.