Charming city sees boost in tourism

Although inbound tourism numbers fell in China last year, Tongren, a city in Guizhou province that is usually far off the tourist trail, has come up with a winning formula, a local official said.

In 2013, the city welcomed 60,508 foreign visitors, up 21 percent year-on-year, and that number is expected to hit 100,000 before 2015, the Tongren tourism bureau said.

"We are focusing on developing markets in Japan and South Korea this year to further boost tourism," Xia Qingfeng, the mayor of Tongren, who is also a deputy to the National People's Congress, said during the recent NPC session.