Jilin promotes culture and tourism in Tokyo

A culture and tourism promotional event for Northeast China’s Jilin province took place in Tokyo, the capital city of Japan on June 19.

A dance performed by the Jilin municipal song and dance ensemble kicked off the event. Yang Andi, director of the Jilin Province Department of Culture and Tourism, made a presentation on all the great features that Jilin has to offer, to the 200 attendees.

Jilin is a large granary, an industrial base and is the place where the first vehicle and the first film was produced in China. In addition, it built the country’s first large hydropower station and ski resort in the mountains, Yang said.

Yang added that Jilin has huge market potential, and boasts strong government support via preferential policies, as well as rich resources and it has a very promising future. She added that it will strive to further open up to outside markets, cooperate with other areas and seek mutual development.

The province selected a group of locals from Jilin, Siping, Baishan, Songyuan, Baicheng and Changbai Mountain as "City Ambassadors" for China-Japan friendly exchanges. They have pledged to contribute to promoting Jilin in Japan.

Tadashi Shimura, president of the Japan Association of Travel Agents, said that he visited Changchun and Hunchun 25 years ago, and became interested in the delicacies, dance and culture there.

He added that the latest promotion has helped the Japanese get to know Jilin better and he called for more airlines to launch services to boost tourism ties between China and Japan.

Jilin is close to Japan, with its city of Hunchun city only 15 kilometers away from the Sea of Japan. Japan is one of the key sources of overseas tourist for Jilin. Officials said Japan enjoys rich tourism resources and developed tourism industry, while Jilin is a new international destination for winter tourism.