Roundup

PLUM BLOSSOM FESTIVAL

An international plum blossom festival was launched on Monday in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province. The event, which will run until March 12, is expected to promote Nanjing's tourism and showcase the natural beauty of the city through a series of activities, according to the local culture and tourism bureau. Plum blossoms are the representative flower of Nanjing city, where it is a local custom to view them in early spring each year.

FINANCIAL STIMULUS

North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region will allocate 240 million yuan (about $35 million) of special funds this year to accelerate the recovery of its cultural tourism industry. Inner Mongolia has specially formulated policies and measures to support the development of cultural tourism, the regional government told a news briefing last week. The tourism development fund of 200 million yuan will be used to help build 5A tourist attractions, national tourism resorts and national ski tourism resorts. A special fund of 40 million yuan will support projects like physical stores of cultural tourism commodities, the development of such commodities, and live performances.

SERVICES GET ACTIVE

China's services activity logged a strong recovery in January thanks to a robust consumer market during the weeklong Spring Festival holiday. Services activity ended its six-month losing streak in January and returned to positive territory, with a sharp rebound in the business climate, senior National Bureau of Statistics statistician Zhao Qinghe said. Of all 21 surveyed industries, 15 saw business expansion, with railway, aviation, postal services, financial services and insurance in a high climate range of above 60. Retail, hotel and catering sectors, previously those hardest hit by COVID-19, also resumed expansion.

MUSEUM OPENINGS

A batch of museums and parks will be built or opened in Beijing this year, the Beijing Municipal Cultural Heritage Bureau said on Feb 12. A branch of the Capital Museum, featuring the ancient Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, is scheduled to complete construction and open in Tongzhou district, Beijing's subcenter, by the end of this year. A demonstration area for the protection and utilization of national historical and cultural heritage sites of the "Three Hills and Five Gardens" will also be completed. The sites include many historical attractions, such as royal gardens from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

RAILWAY LINK TO AIRPORT

A new railway linking north China's Tianjin municipality with Beijing will become operational in 2023, in an effort to boost the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The railway, with a total length of more than 100 kilometers, is to connect Tianjin West Railway Station with Beijing Daxing International Airport. As one of the major infrastructure projects for coordinated regional development, it is expected to assist the integrated development of transportation in the region.

MACAO ROADSHOW

The Experience Macao, Unlimited Caravan roadshow is to travel across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area from February to April, in order to promote the special administrative region's tourism, the Macao Government Tourism Office said on Thursday. Stop-offs will include Guangzhou, Jiangmen, Shenzhen, Huizhou, Zhaoqing, Dongguan and Foshan in Guangdong province. In addition, the MGTO plans to cooperate with Air Macau to launch a roadshow series in Chinese mainland cities including Beijing, Ningbo in Zhejiang province, Nantong in Jiangsu province, and Fuzhou in Fujian province between March and May, to attract more tourists to Macao.

Xinhua - China Daily