A young woman's web posting prompted a city-wide discussion on Zhanjiang's tourism development. And the author was received as a honoured guest when she toured the city recently, reports Yangcheng Evening News.

The woman, who goes by the web alias, "Youyou Yue'er", published an essay entitled "The Beautiful Zhanjiang in My Heart" on a Zhanjiang-based web forum, even though she had never visited the city.

The essay, based on talks with her Zhanjiang friends, touched the local people and generated more than 500 follow-up responses.

Xu Shaohua, the mayor, also mentioned the article at a work conference after reading them.

Premier Zhou Enlai praised Zhanjiang as the "Geneva of the East" during a tour in the 1950s.

But the city has lagged behind in development and is probably not as beautiful as "Youyou Yue'er" imagines, Mayor Xu said.

After Zhanjiang Daily launched a column on the topic, how to make Zhanjiang beautiful again became the talk of the town.

In the meantime, "Youyou Yue'er" finally visited Zhanjiang at the invitation of fellow netizens and the tourism bureau.

She met the friends she had previously only talked with over the Net. And Deng Weilong, the city's Party secretary, met with her and thanked her for writing the essay.

"Zhanjiang is as beautiful as I thought," she declared on a radio call-in show, during which she received enthusiastic greetings from locals.

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