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Centuries-old Town to Gain Fame from APEC Meeting
The town of Boao in south Hainan Province gained fame for the "BOAO Forum for Asia" early this year. The one thousand-year-old town of Zhouzhuang in east China's Jiangsu Province is now expecting to attract world wide attention from the upcoming informal meeting of the APEC MRT (Ministers Responsible for Trade) meeting.
Zhuang Chundi, head of the town, said that although the meeting only lasts for a half day, all 22,000 people in the town are looking forward to and very proud of hosting the international meeting.
Zhuang believes that Zhouzhuang, which has been known as a well protected old town constructed by the water, will see an opportunity for development in both economy and culture.
Surrounded by Taihu Lake, one of China's biggest lakes, Zhouzhuang is located in China's leading economy giant, Jiangsu Province. It has been named as a model town, strong in both economic development and environment protection in China and listed among the country's best scenic spots.
Within an hour's drive of Shanghai, the town is included in tour packages of the metropolis. More than 1.5 million foreign and domestic tourists last year came here to see rustic brick bridges, clean water and ancient houses along the river contrasting with the skyscrapers in Shanghai.
The old town has invested eight million yuan (964,000 US dollars) in building a boat-shaped convention center on the river for the APEC MRT meeting next Wednesday. In addition, all signposts have been rewritten in both Chinese and English.
Compared with Boao, Zhouzhuang is stronger economically. The city of Kunshan which Zhouzhuang is part of is among the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone and has become one of the overseas investment pools. The city reported the same GDP per capita as its wealthy neighbor Shanghai.
Boatwoman Xu Meizhen, 52, in a blue cotton blouse, told Xinhua, "I hope that more international friends will come here and ride in my boat after the APEC MRT meeting."
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