Old Silk Road, a New Tourist Favor

In the first four months of 1999, the Old Silk Road received nealy 7,000 overseas tourists,and foreign exchange earnings increased 20 percent over the same period of last year. The Old Silk Road is becoming a favorite route of international tourists.

A series of classic tours have been developed, including the Hexi Corridor Silk Road Desert Landscape Tour, Gansu Eastward Silk Road Root Seekking and Pilgrimage Tour, Gansu Southward Hui-Tibetan Folklore and Grassland Tour, Qilian Mountain Mountaineering and Adventure Tour, Silk Road Grotto Art Study Tour, and Desert Expedition Tour.

Besides organized group tours, a large number of individual tourists have also come to visit the Old Silk Road. The annual French Old Silk long-distance race group visited the Old Silk Road for the fourth time this year. This year, some Norwegians will organize bicycle tour groups.

Tibet Develops Special-Interest Tours

Tibet has developed five tourists areas, each with its own special characteristics.

The five tourist area are: the cultural appreciation tourist area centered on Lhasa, the Eastern Tibet adventure tourist area,mainly featuring mountian climbing; the Southeast Tibet scientific investigation; the cultural tourist area, mainly featuring wildlife.

To promote Tibet's travel industry, the autonomous region invested 4 billion yuan last year in strengthening infrastructure facilities. As a result, Tibet's transportation and telecommunications have greatly improved. At prenst, Tibet is accelerating the renovation of the Sichuan-Tibet, Yunnan-Tibet and Xijiang-Tibet highways, and is working hard to guarantee the smooth operation of trunk highways from Lhasa optical-fiber cabke and the Lhaso telecommunications pivotal project have entered the completion stage.

International Goodwill Months to Be Held

The International Goodwill Months will be held in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning Province, from August to October in northeast China.

The International Goodwill Months will involve different fields such as trade, tourism, culture, sports, agriculture and industry. 17 main activities will be arranged. They are:

August: The sixth China Drama Festival

September: China International Wine Culture Festival, Shenyang International Auto Industrial Exposition,International Flowers Exhibition and TRade Fair, International Economic and Trade Fair, International Music Festival,and International Super Model Contest China District Selective Trial.

October: The eighth China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, the World Chess and Card Playing Competition.

The other main activities include the International Agricultural Exposition, the Cosmetic and Hairdressers' Articles Exposition, Shenyang Commodities Fair, International Beer Festival, China Northeast Vegetables Festival, World Famous Dogs Exhibition, International Seminar on Environmental Strategy, and China Northeast International Power Technical Equipment Exhibition.

Hengshan Culture and Tourism Festival to Kick Off

The '99 China Mount Hengshan Culture and Tourism Festival will be held in Hunyuan County, Shanxi Province from August 8 to 28.

During the festival a number of activities will be arranged, including the exhibition of paintings, calligraphy and photography, the International Year of Older Persons Mountaineering Competition, the Annual Meeting of the Five Mountains, and the Datong Tourism Investment Soliciting Fair.

Mount Hengshan was designated as a national key scenic and historical area by the State Council in 1982,and is a sacred place for Taosim and heritage tour.

Temple Fair on Jiuhua Mountain

The 17th Temple Fair on Jiuhua Mountain will be held from August 16 to September 16 on Jiuhua Mountain, a key scenic area in China and one of China's four scared Buddhist mountains.

During the temple fair grand Buddhist ceremonies and folklore activities will be held. The entertainment includes a Buddhist music concert, Nuo dances, Nuo operas, dragon lantern dances and Weifeng drums and gongs.

More than 1,000 guests and monks will travel from Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Taiwan and Hong Kong to attend the fair.

Shishi Sea World

Shishi City in Fujian Province has finished constructing China's inland largest sea theme paradise-Shishi sea World.

Built at cost of 500 million yuan,it is located in the Golden Beach Holiday Village in southern Fujian. The world consists of the submarine hall, dolphin performance hall, marine scientific and technological hall, diving hall and underwater performance hall, in addition to the subsidiary halls of rocks in fantastic shapes and root art carvings. The auxiliary projects including hotels, restaurants, tea houses by the sea and shopping facilities have been completed in the sea world.