As tourism has been experiencing a flourishing time recently in China, many people believe that tourism will accelerate economic growth and bring benefits to the dwellers¹ of the city. So they hold the opinion that we should try our endeavors to promote tourism; however, those who see the other side of the picture utter a sonorous² voice that tourism may bring about a disastrous³ impact on our environment. As far as I am concerned, my opinion is the same as the latter's for the following reasons:

In the first place, with many travelers flocking to different destinations over the country, air travel, car travel and train travel are adding to the planet’s pollution crisis and this is becoming a serious problem. Tourism development must accompany a sharp rise in traffic; however, we have to admit that the scenes of packed vehicles around the tourist attractions are not a pleasant view, let alone the exhaust fumes⁴ emitted. Besides, in some mountainous areas, in order to attract the tourists, trees are cut down to build the roads and hotels to facilitate people’s exploration of scenic⁵ spots, which itself serve as the evidence of negative effects imposed on the local environment. In addition, some tourists’ lack of awareness⁶ of environmental protection leads to damage on a large scale, from the garbage spread around to the animals scared away or even killed by the tourists, which badly damages the balance of the natural environment.

In short, to develop tourism at the cost of environment is proved wrong beyond doubt. Thus, we need to find a balance between satisfying the needs of tourists and reducing to a minimum the damage tourism causes.