Girls wearing costumes featuring folk art from Shanghai's rural Jinshan District are a colorful part of the parade and opening of the Shanghai Tourism Festival on Saturday.

More than 460,000 people gathered on Huaihai Road and Nanjing Road to watch the parade and the opening of the 18th Shanghai Tourism Festival on Saturday night.

Altogether 21 floats and 36 acts took part in the 90-minute parade from Xizang Road to Maoming Road. The parade had three themes - "Welcome to Shanghai," "Blessings from the World" and "Gorgeous China."

Each float reflected different cultures such as Thailand's mythology, Japan's cherry blossoms and the mountain and water landscapes of China.

After the parade, a "carnival" began along Nanjing Road E. with famous Chinese stars appearing on stage.

The 21 floats will parade through other city districts and will go on display at Century Park during the National Day holiday from October 1 to 7, the Shanghai Tourism Administrative Commission announced.

A range of other festivals will now get under way after the grand opening including the Shanghai Shopping Festival, the International Music Fireworks Festival in Century Park, the Mid-Autumn Festival Evening Party in Guilin Park and the Ocktoberfest beer festival at the Renaissance Yangtze Hotel.

The tourism festival will end on October 6 and is expected to attract eight million tourists from home and abroad.

As well as the tourism festival, this fall the city will also play host to the 2007 Special Olympic Summer Games, the F1 Grand Prix and the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix track and field event, all of which will attract visitors.

According to the commission, more than 4.34 million overseas tourists have visited the city from January to August, an increase of 10.8 percent from the same period in the previous year. The city is expected to welcome more than 6.6 million overseas tourists this year.

(Shanghai Daily September 17, 2007)