Li Jinlu (at mic), head of Hebei province's tourism bureau, announcing the opening ceremony (Photo/Liu Xiang)

There was a grand opening ceremony for the 18th North China Travel Fair, on Aug 30, on Culture Square in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province, with more than 1,000 tourist agencies from all across China, and various countries and regions on hand for the three-day event, which is expected to bring in more than 100,000 visitors. It covers a 22,780-square–meter area with 168 standard booths.

There was a grand opening ceremony for the 18th North China Travel Fair, on Aug 30, on Culture Square in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province, with more than 1,000 tourist agencies from all across China, and various countries and regions on hand for the three-day event, which is expected to bring in more than 100,000 visitors. It covers a 22,780-square–meter area with 168 standard booths.

Du Jiang (left), vice-chief of the National Tourism Bureau, and Qin Boyong, Hebei's vice-governor, starting the opening ceremony.(Photo/Liu Xiang)

This was a truly grand fair with the broadest scale, most participants, and greatest content Ever, covering tourist scenic spots, travel routes, world heritage, and local culture, along with typical travel goods, travel equipment, and other products available along the Beijing-Guangzhou High-speed Railway line.

By the second day, there were 4.4 billion yuan worth of contracts signed. There were many themed activities during the fair, including Shijiazhuang trade and tourism projects and a signing ceremony, Russia's "Chinese Year", tourism and cultural exchanges commemorating the 30th anniversary of Hebei and Lowa’s bonds establishment, high-level tourism, culture talks, a Chinese tourism agency federation meeting, and a “Taiwan Night” tourism promotion.

Liu Qingwei, vice-chief of the Shijiazhuang tourism bureau, said that his used this opportunity to announce the spending of 390 million yuan on an upgrade program of A-level scenic spots to improve service quality and accommodations.

By Liu Xiang