NPC deputy proposes CPC's "birthday" to be "golden week" holiday
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-03-11 16:16

BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- China needs one more "golden week " holiday and the founding anniversary day of Communist Party of China (CPC) is a top choice, a national legislator said Friday.

Such a design have both political and economic significance, said Wang Weizhong, a deputy from the Northeast China's Jilin Province to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature.

To add the party's "birthday", which falls on July 1, to the list of the nation's week-long holidays, can help balance the " holiday economy" between seasons and between the country's different regions, Wang, a professor at Jilin University, said.

Summer is the golden season of tourism in the country's northeastern and northwestern regions for their favorable cool weather, but the regions lack a thing of "golden week" to boost the tourism industry.

China initiated three "golden week" holidays, namely the May Day holiday (starting from May 1), the National Day holiday ( beginning from October 1) and the Spring Festival (from first day on Chinese lunar calendar) in 1999 to spur domestic consumption.

However, the northeastern and northwestern regions cannot share the profits of tourism boom as tourism destinations in the regions are not so attractive to tourists in these seasons due to a cold weather there, except for the snowy scenery in the winter.

Wang said a "golden week" in summer can help the disadvantaged regions attract tourists from the country's southern and eastern areas, who might hope for a chance to escape heatwave at their home.

The rich tourism resources in northeast and northwest regions will lie idling without the promotion of a "golden week", Wang said.

The deputy said he even believes a new golden week can help prevent corruption to some extent.

China saw a fall of tourism on public expense after the current three golden weeks were initiated seven years ago, Wang said, but the jobbery, usually under the pretext of official visits or investigation, remains prevalent in summer.

When officials have a chance for travel with a holiday week in the season, it might be no longer necessary for them to seek leisure under a pretext of official businesses, the lawmaker said.