The Hezhe People, one of the smallest ethnic groups in China, have held a tourist festival in Tongjiang city, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

Over 10,000 tourists, some Russian, took part in the three-day festival activities beginning on Aug. 8, including artistic performances, canoe racing, and other traditional sports of the Hezhe People.

They also visited the museum showing the history of the Hezhe and a village with a display of their cultural customs.

The Hezhe People, whose population is 4,000, live in the areas around the Heilong, Songhua and Wusuli rivers.

This is the second year the festival has been held. Tongjiang, a city neighboring Russia across the Sino-Russian border, has become a new tourist hotspot in China.

( eastday.com August 13, 2002)