The fifth international sand sculpture festival in Zhoushan city of east China's Zhejiang province, held from September 19 through May 15, 2004, will mark the revival of China's tourism industry after SARS, say tourism officials on Wednesday.

"The sand sculpture festival, the first of its kind introduced to China five years ago, has become a major tourist attraction and led to similar festivals in other parts of China," said Zhang Xiqin, deputy director of State Tourism Administration.

More than one million tourists, from home and overseas, have visited the previous four sand sculpture shows in Zhoushan city.

This year's show, themed on the ancient "Silk Road," will feature major distinct tourist sites from the ancient capital of Xi'an in northwestern China all the way to Rome, Italy. Prior to the opening of sea navigation between the East and the West, theworld-famous Silk Road was the land thoroughfare linking China, or Middle Kingdom as it was called at that time, with Central and Western Asia to the eastern shore of the Mediterranean between the 2nd century B.C. and the 9th century A.D..

The festival this year will boast a sculpture of up to 13 meters in height and use a total of 20,000 cubic meters of sand, organizers said.

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