After its successful debut last year, the Guangdong International Tourism and Culture Festival will kick off on November 24 in Guangzhou, capital city of South China's Guangdong Province.

Sponsored by the China National Tourism Administration and the Guangdong provincial government, the gala will offer local people and visitors a series of large-scale activities, including the 5th Guangdong Folk Performance show, Lingnan Folk Arts Exposition and the Contest for the Most Beautiful Village in Guangdong.

The Pearl River Delta Tourism Promotion Convention and a tourism promotional fair focusing on promoting tourism resources in Guangdong will also be held in conjunction with the festival.

The tourism promotional fair will draw a great number of domestic and overseas tourism agencies and enterprises, of which 17 are from the United States, Canada, Russia, Mexico, Sweden, France, Italy, Australia, Turkey, Thailand, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia.

It has also attracted a number of tourism agencies from the Pan-Pearl River Delta region, including the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Guizhou Province, Hunan Province, Fujian Province and Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, which will display tourism resources in the region at an exhibition hall.

Members of the Pan-Pearl River Delta (P-PRD) Co-operation Framework Agreement have expanded their co-operation scheme to the tourism sector.

Guangdong has signed co-operation agreements with the tourism departments of the provinces of Jiangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Hainan, Sichuan and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Variety of activities

The partnership is expected to boost tourist inflow into Guangdong.

The exhibition area of the fair will exceed 20,000 square metres, consisting of more than 500 booths at the Tianhe Sports Centre.

Guangzhou will be the main venue of the festival, hosting the opening ceremony in the city's Tianhe Sports Centre in the evening of November 24.

The city will also hold the second traditional German Oktoberfest, an annual beer fest that used to be held in Munich of Germany, from November 25 to December 3, featuring Bavarian dancing, food, drinking and a lucky draw.

During the beer gala, the renowned German-based band, Alpenboecke, will present a stunning performance in Guangzhou.

The eight-day gala will give locals and visitors a chance to taste original Bavarian beer and delicious German snacks, and experience German beer culture.

Three other contests, including the contest of Tourism Ambassador of Guangdong, the Contest for the Best Tourist Attraction in Guangdong and the Best Shopping Streets Campaign will also be held in Guangzhou.

Aimed at promoting Guangdong's tourism culture, an unprecedented and wonderful folk art performance featuring local customs and traditions will be staged again during the festival's opening ceremony.

It will display charming landscapes and unique folk arts in the province, and showcase Guangdong's splendid culture and customs.

Meanwhile, the coastal city of Shenzhen will host the closing ceremony on November 30 at the Shenzhen Window on the World.

With a theme of "promoting international tourism co-operation," the International Conference on Building International Tourist Cities in Globalization will also be held in Shenzhen.

Folk culture display

One highlight in the Shenzhen venue will also be the Shenzhen (Longgang) Hakka Tourism Week, featuring Hakka culture and folk arts, and the International Wine Festival.

Another eye-catching event at the festival is the Guangdong Folk Art Performance to be held in Tianhe Sports Centre, Haiyin Square and Shangxiajiu Square from November 24-29.

Dozens of performing troupes from Guangdong will give typical local performances, such as the Dragon Dance and Lion Dance.

People can appreciate traditional Chaozhou Opera and Chaozhou Music Performances in the Chaozhou Art Centre during the festival.

With a theme of "Dynamic Guangdong," this year's festival will see a great number of activities staged in many cities in Guangdong Province.

As a supporting venue of the festival, Shantou, a coastal city in western Guangdong, will host three events, including the 12th Chaoshan Gourmet Festival, the 8th International Food Exposition and the Selected Chaozhou Opera and Music Show.

Home to overseas Chinese, Jiangmen in the southwestern part of Guangdong will host the China (Jiangmen) Overseas Chinese Carnival and Hometown Tour Festival from November 25-27.

Other supporting cities include Shaoguan, Qingyuan, Heyuan, Zhaoqing, Jieyang, Foshan, Maoming, Zhuhai and Zhongshan, which will all display unique tourism resources and folk culture during this year's festival.

Editor: Yan