honorablejudges,ladiesandgentlemen,goodmorning.
firstofall,letmetakethischancetopresenttoyouasetofdatathatihopewon'tboreyousincethesourceischinadaily.
china'stourismrevenuelastyearreached500billionrmb,anincreaseof10.5percentfromtheyearbefore,andcomprisedmorethan5%ofchina'sgdp.accordingtoexperts,thisnumberwillgrowto8%inthecomingtenyearsandmorethan40millionjobswillbecreated.
asastudentmajoringineconomics,ican'tbemoresensitivetotheessentialmeaningsbehindthesenumbers.theymeanprogress,prosperity,employmentandstability.
however,asaconscientiouschineseandcitizenoftheworld,ican'thelpbutcaremoreaboutthelossesincurredinthistransaction,bywhichimeanthedisturbingimagesofenvironmentaldestruction,whichleadstoecologicalcrisis.theglobalenvironmenthaschangedfortheworseduringthepastfewyears,andtourismispartlytoblame.takechinaforexample,inordertoattracttourists,manyunknownplacesarebuiltintoresorts.forestsarecleared,prairiestrampled,riversandlakes6)contaminated,wildanimalsaredrivenaway,plantsjeopardizedandsecludedpopulationsdisturbed.
ifthisseemstooremoteandabstract,myowntravelingexperiencemayspeaklouderhere.lastyearitookatouraroundemeimountaininsichuanprovince.likemosttourists,iwaseagertoembracenatureandenjoyitsbeauty.however,assoonasigotonthebus,thestenchofgasolineandthenoiseoftheenginetaintedmyappreciationofthewonderfulsceneryandthetranquilityofthecountryroad.whenwefinallyarrived,whatisawwasnotabeautifullandscapebutcrowdsofpeople;whatiheardwasnotthemelodioussingingofbirds,butyellingandbargainingfromthegiftshops;whatismelledwasnotthefreshmountainair,butstinkingsuffocatingsmokecomingoutofsmalldirtyrestaurants.moreover,icouldnotunderstandwhythelovelymonkeyslivingtherehadtotakephotoswithtouristsallday;whythebeautifulbutterfliesandflowershadbecomelifelesssamplesinshopwindows;whythestrongestimpressionsihadwastrashscatteredeverywhereontheground.
however,thisisnottheendofthestory.beforeileftemei,imetagroupofkidsinanecotourismprogramwiththeslogan:“experiencing,learningandprotecting.”whenisawtheiryounghandspickinguptrashfromtheground,whenifelttheirenjoymentandharmoniousrelationshipwiththeanimals,whenifoundtheirpuresteyesfilledwithpassionandlovefornature,irealizedtomygreatsatisfactionthattheredoesn'thavetobeatradeoffbetweentourismandecology,becausedeepwithinusisaninclinationtowardnaturalbeautyandadesiretoprotectit.yes,environmentalproblemswilleventuallyeasewiththeadvancementofscienceandtechnologyandimprovementofourmanagementsystem.however,anincreaseofecologicaleducationandhands-onenvironmentalinvolvementofourfellowcitizenswilldoevenbetter.torealizethis,thebestwayforusliesintourismitselfbecausenothingotherthannaturecanteachushowtoloveandcherishoursweetesthome.attheendofmyspeech,pleaseletmequotebobdylan:
howmanyroadsmustamanwalkdownbeforeyoucallhimaman?
howmanytimesmustamanlookupbeforehecanseethesky?
howmanyyearscanamountainexistbeforeit'swashedtothesea?
theanswer,myfriend,isnotinthewind-theanswerisours!thankyou!