Northwest China's Qinghai Province will hold its first international tourism photography contest this July.

The province, situated at the northeast part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, will invite famous domestic and foreign photographers to take photos of its scenery, as well as hold photography exhibitions in Beijing and Hong Kong.

An official from the Provincial Government said that the tournament is an important step for Qinghai to show its abundant tourism resources to the world in its bid to help develop west China.

By the "eyes" of photographers, Qinghai will exhibit its beautiful natural scenery to the largest extent and improve its tourism status in the world.

Qinghai province possesses the headstreams of the Yangtse River, the Yellow River and the Lantsang, and is also a region inhabited by some ethnic groups.

In 2000, Qinghai received over 30,000 foreign tourists and over 3.6 million domestic tourists, with tourism income over one billion Yuan.

(People’s Daily 03/16/2001)