The sixth Southwest China Ice-Snow Tourist Festival opened Monday in southwest China's Sichuan Province, attracting a number of travel agencies from all over the world.

The festival will be held in forest parks and nature reserves across the province, including Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area, Huanglong Valley, Mount E'mei and Xiling Mountain.

Attending the opening ceremony were representatives from the tourism sector of the United States, Australia, Japan and Malaysia as well as China's Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

The highlight of the opening ceremony was a tourism promotion fair jointly sponsored by the Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area and Huanglong Valley. According to sources, some international travel agencies have already signed cooperative agreements with the scenic spots to develop new tourism programs.

Located in China's southwestern mountainous region, Sichuan has four months of snow annually with an abundance of snow and ice for tourists to come and see like snow-covered mountains, ice falls, glaciers and soft frosty landscapes in the province.

(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2006)