The largest and most influential tourist event -- the 2012 China Tourism Day, opened on May 19th in the country's most famous Zhangjiajie Natural Reserve, in Hunan Province. And across the country, various activities have been held to welcome tourists from home and abroad.

Wang Qishan, Chinese vice premier, said, "I now declare the 2012 China Tourism Day open."

Tourism Day was launched as a non-statutory holiday by the State Council in 2011. The date was chosen to honor Xu Xiake, a great 17th-century traveler and writer.

The theme of this year's Tourism Day is "Healthy Lifestyles and Happy Travels". The opening ceremony was held in Zhangjiajie, China's first national forest park and also a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site. A tourism investment forum was also held on the same day.

A report by China's National Tourism Administration says that Chinese people spent ten percent of their incomes on tourism activities in 2011. Nearly half of that went on tourist spots in central China.

Wu Wenxue, director of National Tourism Administration, said, "The six provinces in central China have many similarities in culture and traditions. They share similar tourism resources, but each has its own characteristics. So cooperation between them is a win-win situation."

The report points out that self-guided and in-depth tour has become the top choices for Chinese people.

As a result, many new forms of tourism have been developed. Tourism has even now become a factor in urban construction.

Liang Bi, vice mayor of Zhangjiajie City, said, "We've introduced the idea of building special tourist sections of the city. We’re also paying more attention to the promotion of tourist facilities."

The establishment of Tourism Day was in response to a growing desire to travel among Chinese people.

Revenues from the country's tourism sector hit more than 2 trillion Yuan in 2011, up more than 20 percent year-on-year.