Two thousand years ago, a continuous stream of caravans meandered west, passing through central Asia to Europe to form the Silk Road, which blended the civilizations of east and west. Now, the revitalization of the Silk Road economic belt is allowing countries along the ancient route to march forward once again.

On Sept. 19, 2014, the International Tourism Expo of the Silk Road opened in Xi'an. 24 provinces joined, 32 foreign delegations from countries located along the Silk Road participated, and thousands of travel agencies, tourism enterprises and airline companies all gathered together to accelerate the development of tourism in the Silk Road economic belt. "Travel to know the world, cooperate to expand the tourism" was the theme of the event.

The Ningxia Tourist Administration paid great attention to advertisements highlighting several tourism spots in Ningxia, which were displayed at the region's exhibition booth. One woman in her sixties said, "I think this is special – our whole family would consider Ningxia as a potential travel destination."

Shanxi is the main tourist market along the Silk Road economic belt, drawing nearly 7.5 percent of visitors. At this exhibition, the tourist administration of Ningxia will also discuss Silk Road tourism cooperation to enhance consumers' and tourism-related businesses' awareness of and interest in Ningxia tourism.