(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-17 09:00

Visitors come for the opening ceremony of The third China Festival started in Nepali capital city Kathmandu on September 16, 2007. [Xinhua]

The third China Festival started in Nepali capital city Kathmandu on Sunday.

The week-long event will see colorful activities including cultural performance, trade fair, book fair, fashion show, photo exhibition, Chinese lantern exhibition, food festival and Chinese handicraft exhibition as well as Wushu show.

With the theme of "Harmonious Guangdong and Attractive Zhuhai", China Festival 2007 will be on a bigger scale, with some local flavor.

The festival is jointly organized by the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China, China's Guangdong Province, Chinese embassy in Nepal and Nepal World Cultural Net.

Inaugurating the festival, Nepali Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala said event such as this does make significant contribution in enhancement of bilateral relations between the two countries,  adding that it also provides platform for strengthening people-to-people relations of the two neighboring countries.

Expressing happiness over significant progress made by China over the past couple of decades in diverse sectors, Koirala said Nepal is witnessing the recent strides and trends in China with great interest and appreciation.

Vice Governor of Guangdong Province Lei Yulan, jointly inaugurating the event, expressed appreciation for the support and assistance rendered by friends in Nepal.

She said, "While assimilating successful experience from the last two China festivals, this festival will also from the perspective of cultural and economic cooperation demonstrate to you the Province of Guangdong and its long history and liveliness as well as its development and changes in the process of reform and opening-up."

Lei also expressed confidence that through the festival, people of Nepal will get a better understanding of the development of Guangdong as well as the special economic zone of Zhuhai.

Chinese Ambassador Zheng Xianglin appraised the program that Guangdong Province ranks first in China in terms of economic capacity and Zhuhai is one of the most charming cities not only in Guangdong but also in the whole of China.

"This time, the China Festival will show all our friends in Nepal the vigorous image of the modern Chinese cities through all kinds of activities and at the same time serve as the platform for renewing the friendship between the people of two nations," he added.

This is the third time that China Festival has been held in Nepali capital Kathmandu. Similar festivals were successfully organized in 2003 and 2005.

The Festival provides a window, through which Nepalese people can get a glimpse of rich Chinese culture, especially that of southern China and the modern city of Zhuhai as well. The Festival can also help create chances for business cooperation between the two countries.