More than 300 artists from 14 different countries gathered in Yichang city in Central China's Hubei province to take part in three festivals that opened on Sept 18.

Zhao Bin, deputy director of the Hubei Provincial People's Congress, and Liu Shanqiao, vice chairman of the Hubei Provincial Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, attended the opening ceremony of the three festivals, the ninth China International Folk Art Festival, the fourth China Yangtze Three Gorges International Tourism Festival and the third China Yichang Yangtze River Piano Music Festival.

Representatives of Egypt, Mongolia, Pakistan, Poland, Senegal, and Spain also attended the ceremony, which was hosted by Gan Rongkun, vice governor of Hubei.

The China International Folk Art Festival was first held in 1990, and each featured performance is carefully selected. The China Yangtze Three Gorges International Tourist Festival is hosted alternately by Yichang and Chongqing, and this year's China Yichang Yangtze River Piano Festival is set to include a piano competition for teenagers.

The three festivals aim to promote Yichang as a tourist destination and are also expected to help improve the development of the local cultural tourism.

Edited by Niva Whyman and Le Qin