Tourism festival kicks off in Shanghai

SHANGHAI, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai Tourism Festival opened on Saturday night in the Nanjing Road Walkway, in a bid to boost culture and tourism consumption in autumn.

The festival, which will last until Sept. 27, features 102 travel routes and products, as well as 156 activities.

Companies, including Trip.com Group, Meituan, and Baidu, as well as other cultural, tourism, and internet giants, will launch special activities during the ensuing weeks in a bid to provide brand-new experiences to tourists.

Shanghai also launched an online festival platform for the first time, on which people can get guidance and advice for traveling and shopping by scanning a QR code on their cellphones.

Provinces and cities across the Yangtze River Delta jointly participated in the festival by setting up special venues in the cities of Nantong, Wenzhou, and Huangshan, launching cross-provincial tourist activities, and offering tourism products with discounts.

The authorities have set up work teams for epidemic prevention and control.

The first Shanghai Tourism Festival was held in 1990.