After a grand fireworks display in Bai'etan area last night on the eve of the 2006 Guangdong International Tourism and Culture Festival, a grand opening ceremony for the big event will be held in Guangzhou's Tianhe Sports Centre this evening.

International kung fu star Jacky Chan and famous Chinese singer Song Zuying will perform at the opening ceremony, according to the organizing committee of the festival.

Li Wenyao, director of Guangzhou Municipal Tourism Bureau, said the city's beautiful scenery with hills and water, delicious food, rich cultural resources and its shopping hotspots have become the major attractions to tourists from outside the city.

"We will give top priority to developing our unique tourism resources and the tourist projects that have strong southern Chinese styles and features," Li said.

"Guangzhou, which has no Great Wall, the Forbidden City and the Qin Dynasty terracotta warriors, has to work harder to develop its own tourism facilities that have strong Guangzhou and south China styles to compete with Beijing, Xi'an and other famous tourist cities in the mainland," said Li.

Guangzhou, with a history of more than 2,200 years is currently a famous historical and cultural city of China.

Li has urged travel agencies and related organizations and personnel to try to upgrade their services to create an even better environment for tourists from home and abroad in the following years.

He made the remarks at a press conference in the Guangdong provincial capital late last week, a week before the 2006 Guangdong International Tourism and Culture Festival kicks off in the southern metropolis.

Li's bureau will seize this golden opportunity to organize a series of tourism events to promote Guangzhou's tourism industry and attract more tourists during the week-long tourism event that opened today.

And Guangzhou and Shenzhen Special Economic Zone are the main venues of the festival. Guangzhou will host the opening ceremony in the city's Tianhe Sports Complex while the closing ceremony will be organized in Shenzhen that borders Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Guangzhou municipal government has been slated to organize a series of tourist activities to promote its tourism industry and further raise Guangzhou's international status of tourism during the event. The activities include Colourful Boats Cruising along the Pearl River, the 20th International Food Festival, a grand fireworks display and the 2006 China Guangzhou (Zengcheng) Mountaineer Festival.

The Colourful Boats Cruising along the Pearl River will take place between 7 pm and 9 pm from November 24 to 29.

More than 32 colourful boats that have been decorated by incorporating Chinese traditional culture and the southern Chinese style will cruise the urban section of the Pearl River to showcase Guangzhou's rich tourism culture.

The 20th International Food Festival is an important event during the 2006 Guangdong International Tourism and Culture Festival. The food festival will take place from November 23 to December 3 in more than 60 hotels and restaurants in Guangzhou.

In addition to special cooking contests, forums, lectures and exhibitions will also be held to discuss the development trends of hotels, restaurants and food industries and showcase China's special cooking skills and delicious cuisine.

Editor: Donald