The opening ceremony of the Taihu Lake Tourism Festival unveiled on weekend in Wuxi city. 3,500 participants from China's 100 tourist cities, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Egypt, Japan, North Korea, Hong Kong, Macao and Thailand, together with 50,000 local residents, joined the festive gala filled with "striking" performances and night music show.

It seemed the drizzling weather could not stop participants' interest to attend. The international tourist fair of the Yangtze River delta region was the first event to kick off and 300 exhibition rooms had been sold out by the time the event started.

People at tourist industry said the tourist fair in the Yangtze River represented a regional cooperation and gained focus from international tourist bodies. Wuxi city emerged as a regional tourist center.

A Taiwan businessman， who was checking whether everything was in right position， said his company was optimistic about the rich tourist resources in the Yangtze River delta and was ready to exploit the market soon after the direct flight was open across the strait.

Numerous performances with distinctive local flavor dominated the exhibition. Mr. Feng Jingbin from Zhangjiajie scenic spot attracted the audience with his palm painting skill.

The person playing a stone-made musical instrument was actually introducing the Jingsiyuan Garden, the largest existing private garden in the Yangtze River delta region.

Tour groups from Anhui dressed the New Fourth Army uniform to boost "red tourism". The most distinctive of all, might be the clay figurine making technique and those purple sand teapots.

A Hong Kong participant said all these wonderful shows were full of local features and they were really wonderful. It might be a good idea to organize more tour groups from Hong Kong and Macao to come to the Yangtze River region, especially to Taihu.

When the dawn came, boats were cruising along the river and people were singing the local song, the beauty of Taihu, in local dialect. Other famous traditional music was played, like the Moonlight over Erquan Springs, or the UP and Up. 100 dancers formed partners and danced waltz under the music of the Blue Danube. Later, participants rowed boat and enjoyed the night view of the Li Lake.

This is said to be the first time for Wuxi city to host such a large cultural night event at the Li Lake. Guests from home and abroad were said to applaud it.

(Chinanews.cn September 7, 2005)