The tourist destination in Guangxi Zhuang Auto-nomous Region attracted a record one million overseas tourists and 10 million domestic visitors in 2001.

But local people are hoping that the three-day Boao Forum for Asia Tourism Conference, which will start today in Guilin, will provide some initiatives for a sustainable tourism in-dustry.

"I still remember the drifting bamboo boats in the Lijiang River, where I used to swim and enjoy happy times when I was a teenager," said Liu Guanghua, 42.

"Nowadays few bamboo boats can be seen on the river and there is not as much water as before," said Liu, standing by the river, now full of tourist boats. "It is likely that our children will not experience the joys we had enjoyed," Liu said.

Many others share Liu's worries.

Government officials, tou-rism experts and journalists from Asia will gather in the city to discuss tourism co-operation and development among Asian countries, drawing the attention of locals, including Liu.

"I hope the upcoming conference will offer solutions," he said.

Tourism, however, has also brought prosperity to Guilin. Since the city opened to foreigners in 1973, more and more Guilin people earn their livings from tourism. The city earned US$209 million from the tourist sector last year alone.

To protect the environ-ment, the local government has closed about 40 factories to protect the Lijiang River. The city is also planning to build an electricity plant using garbage for power generation in Xing'an County on the upper reaches of the river.

(eastday.com November 18, 2002)