"Silk Road" Tourism Festival OpensThe first China Xi'an "Silk Road" Tourism Festival opened Monday in this capital city of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, which is designed to develop tourism resources in western China.Jiang Zhenghua, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) and Zhang Siqing, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) attended the opening ceremony. Musical groups from Turkey, the United States and France will be joined at the festival by local artists who are scheduled to present a variety of art performances. Other activities include a bicycle tour, a train tour along the "Silk Road", a large painting exhibition and an international sports game. The "Silk Road", starting from Xi'an and stretching through Tianshui, Lanzhou, Dunhuang, Turpan and Urumqi, was the most important commercial route linking prosperous central China with foreign countries in central Asia during ancient times. The route contains a treasure trove of cultural relics from China's heritage. Authorities expect the festival to lure more tourists to the "Silk Road" and to Xi'an. The event is jointly sponsored by the China National Tourism Administration and the Xi'an city government. |
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