Beijing advertisement video debut in Times Square on New Year’s Eve

Beijing launched its new publicity campaign to attract tourists by screening a publicity video during the New Year's Eve Countdown Ceremony in Times Square in New York City.

The video features famous world heritages in Beijing, such as the Great Wall and Summer Palace, as well as modern architecture like the Beijing National Stadium (Bird's Nest) and Water Cube.

The ceremony, which began in 1904, was adorned with traditional Chinese elements for the first time, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.

Ren Jianghao, meeting and incentive director at the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development, told the Global Times that the activities helped promote Chinese culture, so as to attract more to travel to China.

"We aim to establish a global brand, and the ceremony is a platform we can use to promote our rich tourism resources and increase our overseas influence," he said.

Without offering the budget details for the advertisement, Ren emphasized that the benefits of it will not be seen in the short term, but the long.

According to The New York Times, signs in top-drawer locations in Times Square can rent for as much as $300,000 to $400,000 a month.

However, some foreigners believe the video is a cliché lacking any substance about people's real lives in Beijing.

"We want to see what life is really like in China," Renaud De Spens, a Frenchman living in Beijing, told the Global Times yesterday.

"Advertisement is one way to promote a city, but we should pay more attention to solving the existing problems. Providing better services for tourists and reducing traffic jams in Beijing are just some examples of the things that need to be done," Wang Qiyan, director of Renmin University's Research Center of Leisure Economy of China, told the Global Times yesterday.