BEIJING, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- About 300 million Chinese are expected to travel during the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays this year, according to a report released Monday.The number represents an increase of 20 percent from a year earlier, according to the report by the China Tourism Academy and CTrip.com, the country's leading online travel service enterprise.Travelers are projected to spend 145 billion yuan (22.7 billion U.S. dollars)， or 25 percent more than a year earlier, on domestic travel during the mid-autumn holiday, which lasts from Sept. 10 to 12, as well as the week-long National Day holidays that begin on Oct. 1.During the upcoming holidays, travelers will mainly flock to attractions in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Xi'an and Chengdu, according to the report.Meanwhile, 2.2 million are expected to head overseas to popular tourism destinations such as the Maldives, Thailand's Phuket Island, Indonesia's Bali Island, Hong Kong, and South Korea.They will spend about 2.1 billion U.S. dollars on international travel, said the report.Source: Xinhua

News 2011-09-07 08:57 View：1611

MANILA, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Benigno Aquino III returned to Manila Saturday evening from a five-day state visit to China.Aquino, who arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, reported what he had accomplished from his visit to China, including the multi-billion dollars investments that could come in the country from Chinese investors.He also cited the agreements signed with China. These included agreements on trade, economic and technical cooperation, media, tourism and sports.Aquino had a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao where they discussed how to further bilateral relations. He also met with other top Chinese government officials as well as businessmen.Aside from Beijing, Aquino also visited Shanghai and Xiamen.Source: Xinhua

News 2011-09-05 08:55 View：1497

Golden Toad Biting the MoonAccording to a journalist, in the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival, “Air Sisters” of Zhangjiajie will hold a ceremony to worship the moon in Baofeng Lake, praying for a prosperous and harmonious country.It is reported that “Air Sisters” are several girls of Zhangjiajie Tujia ethnic group chosen by network mass-selection. They once took part in the shooting for a VCR travel publicity film titled Breathing Zhangjiajie that was showed on Zhangjiajie City Day in Shanghai World Exposition. Zhangjiajie Air SistersThe custom of worshipping the moon can be traced back to the Tang and Song dynasties. Worshipping the moon is the privilege of women, who can make several wishes to the moon and pray for the protection from it.Baofeng Lake is regarded as the “the Jade Pool on Earth”and “the Holy Lake in the Air”. During every Mid-Autumn Festival, a full moon and the mountains in the lake will constitute a wonderful sight called “Golden Toad Biting the Moon”.Translator: Mao YipanSource: Zhangjiajie Official Web

News 2011-09-04 07:30 View：2184

LHASA, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- A Tibetan tea museum will open by 2013 in Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, to promote the rich Tibetan tea culture that dates back 1,300 years.The China Tibetan tea union company ltd. has invested 100 million yuan (15.67 million U.S. dollars) to build the museum on an area of 40 mu (2.66 hectares) in a Tibetan cultural park, according to Wang Huan, company chairman.It will be the first museum in China that focuses on Tibetan tea culture, which can be traced back to the ancient tea and horse trade route during the Tang Dynasty (618-907AD).As tea was a major commodity, the route played an important role in promoting social and economic development in southwest China and facilitating cultural exchanges among neighboring countries.Drinking the brick tea after it's been fermented with butter is the tradition of Tibetans and Chinese minorities in southwestern China.Source: Xinhua

News 2011-09-03 08:53 View：1320

This September will be “A Golden Month of Travel” for Zhangjiajie because the International Country Music Week and the second Hunan Tourism Commodities Fair are going to be held this month, which will boost Zhangjiajie’s tourism in autumn.

News 2011-09-02 08:07 View：1542

The Canillo municipal government delegation from the Principality of Andorra, a group of 15 people headed by Mayor Enric Casadevall, visited Zhangjiajie on August 27. Their inspection tour was accompanied by Zhangjiajie Mayor Zhao Xiaoming. Enric Casadevall with his members inspected Bailong Elevator, Yuanjiajie and Tianmen Mountain Scenic Areas. In every spot, Mayor Zhao Xiaoming would introduce local history and culture and folk custom to them. This is the second time for the Canillo municipal government delegation to visit Zhangjiajie. The first inspection was done in 2009. Last July, Mayor Zhao Xiaoming paid a visit to Canillo City. And the two cities signed an exchange and cooperation framework agreement on the establishment of friendly relationship between two sides.Situated between Spain and France, the Principality of Andorra has a total population of 130,000(data in 2008), covering an area of 468 square kilometers. Located in northeastern Andorra, Canillo is the core tourist city of the country, with tourism and commercial industries as its economic mainstay. The skiing in mountain is the major tourism program. Since 1950s’, in order to develop its tourism industry, the country made great efforts to attract tourists through skiing program and the exemption of commodities tax, mainly the promotion of sports tourism brand. In 2007, the income of tourism industry in Andorra accounted for 80% of GDP. Translator: Mao YipanSource: Zhangjiajie Official Web

News 2011-09-01 08:05 View：1852

Zhangjiajie National Forest Park has received more than 8,000 tourists daily on the average since this summer began, which increased much pressure on infrastructure and staff here. In order to ease the work pressure of the park, a senior volunteer team organized by Luoguta Community patrolled in Luoguta Parking Lot and the Ticketing Office Square from 6 to 9 am every day. The team consisted of retirees and local residents. Some of them are over 70 years old. They offered hospitable services for free to all tourists from home and abroad. For example, they maintained the queuing order, answered questions from tourists, and helped them overcome various difficulties. All efforts they have made deeply touched tourists’ hearts. Translator: Mao YipanSource: Zhangjiajie Official Web

News 2011-08-29 10:31 View：1603

CAIRO, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The friendship and cooperation relations between China and the Arab world have the foundation and potential for further development in the long run despite temporary impact of the region's ongoing unrest, said Chinese special envoy to the Middle East Wu Sike here on Sunday.Some planned exchanges and cooperation projects might be temporarily affected by the turmoil in the region, which first began at the end of last year in Tunisia and then spread to countries like Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria, said Wu in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.On the whole, the Arab countries attach great importance to the relations with China and appreciate China's foreign policies, which means large space for development of mutual relations, he said.Wu is on a visit to Egypt as part of his Middle East and European tour which also includes Palestine, Israel and France. He held talks with Arab League Secretary General Nabil el-Arabi at the pan-Arab body's headquarters on Sunday.In his talks with el-Arabi, the two sides discussed how to further promote China-Arab relations within the framework of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum which was established in 2004, in addition to the exchange of views on the regional situation. Wu also expressed China's support for the just course of the Arab people.Over the past seven years, the forum has achieved remarkable development and laid solid foundation for the development of mutual relations, he said.Taking into consideration the new circumstances, the two sides should explored how to enrich the forum to achieve more fruits, he said.As regards the current Mideast situation, Wu said China respected the will and choice of the people in the turmoil-hit countries. But peaceful means and consultations should be adopted to avoid armed conflicts and violence which has led to huge losses, he said.China is against the foreign interference with the domestic affairs of other countries and believes that people have the ability and wisdom to deal with their own issues, he added.The key challenge for Libya is to realize a peaceful and stable transition of power and reduce the losses of lives of people and property as well as infrastructure facilities, Wu said.The rebuilding of Libya faces some challenges and needs the support of international community. China has maintained smooth contacts with the opposition's National Transitional Council and supported the United Nations and international community to play an important role in the stability and reconstruction of Libya. China itself is also willing to make some contributions in this respect, he said.Some Chinese companies in Libya suffered big losses because of the turmoil in Libya. Wu suggested that Chinese companies should raise their awareness of risks to ensure their interests with the basic principle of win-win cooperation, he added.Wu said Egypt is an important country in the region and has great potential in many fields in cooperation with China.The Chinese government and people both value the relations with Egypt. Both sides should push forward cooperation in fields like politics and economy, and coordination in regional and international affairs, he said.On the Palestinian issue, Wu said the regional changes should not let the issue be ignored.China believes the Palestinian issue be handled on the basis of a two-state solution and through negotiations which can not be replaced by seeking U.N. recognition on an independent Palestine state, stressing the talks is the fundamental way leading to the solution to the Palestinian issue, Wu said.China supports the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and with full sovereignty, according to the envoy.Source: Xinhuanet

News 2011-08-28 08:49 View：1553