Cinematic draw

Chinese director Jia Zhangke hopes his new film festival will be as much an attraction for tourists to Pingyao as the ancient heritage city. Wang Kaihao reports.

The onset of colder weather in late October usually marks the start of low season for tourism in the Shanxi heritage city of Pingyao, but a new film festival opening there has just changed all that.

Pingyao, China's best-preserved ancient walled city with architecture dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997.