Suzhou authorities kicked off a culture week in Beijing on June 19.

The campaign was organized by the Suzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism and is aimed to introduce the culture and tourism resources of Suzhou to expats in China.

The city in Jiangsu province is also known as Venice of the East and has two UNESCO World Heritage Sites and six World Intangible Cultural Heritages.

About 200 foreigners in Beijing, including diplomats, and tourism experts enjoyed Kunqu Opera, Song brocade and golden bricks of the imperial kiln at the opening ceremony.

From June 19 to 26, Song brocade products, fruit pit carvings and exquisite silk products will be exhibited at the AIP Space of the 798 Art Zone for a week.

"With the current situation of the global travel market impacted by COVID-19, we adjusted our promotional strategy by focusing on marketing to China expats since last year," says Xu Weirong, deputy director of the Suzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism.

"China has a huge inbound travel market with 145 million international arrivals in 2019. The eagerness for and passion to travel will transform into a huge travel boom after the pandemic. Suzhou is preparing for the revival of tourism. The international market will still be one of the most important focus points for the future."