Responsible travel attracts new breed of tourists

HANGZHOU, Feb. 10 (Chinese media) -- Wang Lingling, a

15-year-old middle school girl in a village in China's central Anhui Province,

used to do homework in an exercise book, but now she write essays on a computer.

The change owes to a group of 80 travelers from

China's booming coastal cities such as Shanghai and Hangzhou. Told by friends

that Luhu Village Middle School in Woyang County needed computers, groups of

visitors brought 10 desktops and helped connect the school to the Internet.

In the past, the 60 students were "electronically

illiterate," with only two outdated computers available.

"Assistance projects like this made my trips more

worthwhile," said one regular participant, Gary Chen, the managing director of a

software corporation in Shanghai. It was his corporation that donated the

desktops.

Chen's group is not alone. Responsible travel,

popular in the West, is appealing to Chinese young men, many of whom are

well-traveled white-collar workers.

This style of travel, also called "Ethical Travel,"

urges travelers to protect the natural habitat or assist in education and health

projects on tours. It is identified as a new form of travel by Lonely Planet,

one of the largest travel guidebook publishers in the world.

In China's big cities, like-minded volunteers are

developing websites to popularize responsible travel. Among these, the

"Shengdihuwai Club" and "One Kilogram More" commit to environment protection and

rural education improvement, respectively. They have about 8,000 registered

members.

"I prepared books and stationery weighing about one

kilogram and took them to rural schools on the journey," said Xiao Guoyu, an

account manager at a logistics company in Shanghai.

This kind of charity work has proven easy for solo

travelers who can do good in small ways at any time, instead of having to plan

ahead to join large groups in public service activities.

With aid from travelers, students in prefabricated

classrooms in the earthquake-stricken province of Sichuan had 50 reading rooms

by February. Some travelers spent a few days in the schools to train librarians

and teach students to play basketball.

The "responsible travelers" also suggest online that

travelers should do preliminary study of schools and communities on their route

that need help.

"Travel that is socially, environmentally or

culturally responsible minimizes the negative impact on the environment and

society," said Jin Pingbin, a professor of tourism science at Zhejiang

University. "But more importantly, it raises the profile of social service,

enhancing involvement in public good."