Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Minister of Environment and Tourism N.Tserenbat paid a visit to Gansu province of the People’s Republic of China between July 28 and August 2.

During his visit, Minister N.Tserenbat held bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart Luo Shugang and expressed his wishes to strengthen bilateral tourism cooperation. Minister also attended the opening of the 4th Silk Road International Cultural Expo and 9th Dunhuang Tour-Silk Road International Tourism Festival.

The cultural expo and tour being held under the theme ‘Prosperity over Poverty: Culture and Tourism for New Vitality of Silk Road’ unveiled on July 30 in Hezuo city, capital of Gannan Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Gansu province. Over 30 cultural activities will be held across 14 cities in Gansu province within the frames of the expo. The month-long event is aimed at promoting people-to-people exchanges and integrate culture with tourism along the Silk Road.

China’s Gansu province doesn’t only boast a wide range of natural wonders, but is also renowned for its rich diversity of historical and cultural heritage. As a major stopover on the ancient Silk Road, Gansu witnessed the convergence of various cultures and has inherited a spirit of inclusiveness from the ancient trade route.

According to Minister Luo Shugang, since last year, the annual growth rate of both the number of tourist arrivals and tourism revenue in Gansu province has exceeded 25 percent.

In his speech at the opening ceremony, N.Tserenbat underlined that the core of building a close and mutually-beneficial cooperation relationship should be fully respecting the originality of local culture and protecting the tangible and intangible cultural heritage, as well as preserving traditional values of local community.

He further emphasized that in order to attract more international visitors, Mongolia is striving to upgrade its tourism industry, taking specific measures including improving infrastructure and enhancing the quality of service in the tourism industry. "Tourism can offer opportunities for people to share and communicate," he noted.

A total of 800 guests from over 30 countries, including China’s Minister of Culture and Tourism Luo Shugang, Minister of Environment and Tourism of Mongolia N.Tserenbat and Executive Director of the United Nations World Tourism Organization Zhu Shanzhong attended the opening ceremony.

The opening ceremony was followed by a concert titled ‘Nine-colored Shambhala Night’ featuring the performances by ethnic groups at Gannan Grand Theatre. On the second day of the event, a number of events including the international travel operators conference, exhibition of tourism products and ethnic food festival were held. One of the remarkable events was the arts festival held at the open field in Dangzhou Grassland near Hezuo city. More than 6,500 local artists and 700 horses participated in the performances with unique local cultural characteristics. The event continued with the tours through the remarkable places of Gansu province in three three different routes.

This year, the Silk Road International Cultural Expo has opened in Hezuo city of Gannan prefecture and will conclude in Dunhuang, while the previous three sessions of the event entirely took place in Dunhuang.