CONTENTS

Capital Talk

	“Meet in Beijing” for daily open-air and live performances
	Tiananmen theater under way
	Top photographers shoot city
	Heineken Beat show has genuinely exciting line-up
	Mayor meets French

Life&Times

Out&About

	Shunyi District in focus
	Beijing Sportlight
	Flowers across the capital
	Bi-lingual guide for spring outings

City Beat

What’s Hot
	From wireless thingies on models to little model people on wires
Shopping
	Shopping: Spring shoes, shirts and sports duds
	Beijing in My Focus: Win a brilliant BTM bag with your brilliant snap
Wining&Dining:
	Fresh air and fresher fish
Hotel Bulletin Board:
	Highlights of hotels” promotions in May
House&Home:
	Villas look comfortable at Capital Paradise
What’s On:
	Where to go and what to do

Mayor Visits Paris

For the first time in Beijing’s history, the city mayor led a tourism promotion delegation to another country, as the Chinese capital city continues to vie for hosting the 2008 Olympic Games.

Mayor Liu Qi invited people in France and other parts of the world to visit Beijing at a press conference in Paris on March 16.

“Welcome to Beijing. Welcome to share with us the fantastic charm and oriental grace of Beijing. Let us go forward hand in hand to create a beautiful future,” he said in Chinese, which was translated for 200 representatives of French government, tourism, media and fashion who attended the briefing.

With a history of more than 3,000 years and being a capital city for more than 800 years, Beijing is a famous city in terms of history and culture, Mayor Liu said at the briefing.

Construction and modernization over the past two decades has turned Beijing into an increasingly international metropolitis, he added.

“The citizens of Beijing are very hospitable,” he said. The Beijing promotional team also staged a fashion show “Ancient but Vigorous Beijing” with Chinese models.

The promotional team displayed more than 100 award-winning photos, pictures, and arts and crafts. Beijing artists resident in France held a concert of traditional Chinese music on a cruise boat on the Seine in Paris on March 17.

Director of Beijing Tourism Bureau Yu Changjiang said that this is the second time in history that Beijing has staged a promotional activity abroad. The first, held in Japan last July, proved a great success, he said.

The number of overseas tourists visiting Beijing grew for seven consecutive months from August 1999 to February 2000, according to official figures. The number of overseas tourists to Beijing jumped 42 percent in February, a record monthly growth.

Yu said Beijing aims to achieve better results in promotional activities in France and Germany this month.

(Story from www.beijing-olympic.org.cn)