The opening ceremony for a Root-Seeking Tour Program for the top 100 travel agencies and high-speed rail travel media companies was held on June 3.

The program was jointly sponsored by the Hubei Tourism Administration and Suizhou municipal people's government. Wang Zhifa, vice-chairman of the China National Tourism Administration, and Xu Kezheng, deputy governor of Hubei province, attended the opening ceremony.

More than 150 representatives from the top 100 travel agencies and tourism corporations, as well as more than 30 journalists from the High-Speed Rail Travel Media Alliance, jointed the activity.

Four recommended travel routes were introduced to the participants during the activity. The program was designed to promote Suizhou city to integrate the tourism zone along the Beijing-Guangzhou HSR (high-speed railway).

Qian Yuankun, chairman of the Hubei Tourism Administration, addressed the opening ceremony. He pointed out that Suizhou city had drawn more attention in terms of tourism development in recent years. The strategy to "strengthen Suizhou by tourism" raised by the municipal government had achieved great success.

As a part of the new strategy, the Root-Seeking Tour Program was intended to promote the hometown of Emperor Yan Shennong in Suizhou, as the best tourism destination in Hubei.

Edited by Michael Thai and Le Qin