If a tourist wants to know more about the last century of the Chinese history, he or she can't afford to miss the chance of touring Tianjin, a coastal city one hour's drive southeast of Beijing.

That is the slogan the city's tourism authority has adopted to promote it.

But it is a really difficult mission to describe Tianjin as a tourism destination in one single sentence since the city embodies many sightseeing, cultural and economic elements.

She Qingwen, chief of the Tianjin Tourism Bureau, agrees.

"It is not easy to summarize Tianjin's tourism resources in one single sentence, since the city is truly multifaceted. What we are trying to do is integrate all of Tianjin's tourism treasures, highlight the city's charm and promote Tianjin's image worldwide," She says.

If Xi'an is well known for its 5,000-year historical heritage and Beijing is famous for its glorious 1,000 years, Tianjin boasts many of China's cultural, social and economic elements over the past century, the Tianjin tourism chief says.

As a metropolis, Tianjin has its own uniqueness derived from China's modern history. During the past 100 years, the city has witnessed the introduction of Western education, technology, architecture and financial systems, which are all worth touring, She says.

Nowadays with Tianjin's Binhai New Area on track to become China's next growth engine, and Tianjin set to grow into north China's economic center, the city's significance, as a tourism destination increases further.

"The development of the Binhai New Area is promoting Tianjin's influence and brand. It also brings new development opportunities for Tianjin's tourism industry," She says.

Large projects such as the Airbus A320 assembly line, the next-generation rocket and the ship-building base, will all attract visitors from all over the country and the world as well. They will tour the projects and the city of Tianjin simultaneously, according to She.

"The economic development of the Binhai New Area and Tianjin as a whole will fuel the local tourism segment, and vice versa. We will drive the local tourism segment not only for the sake of developing the sightseeing industry, but also fuelling the city's overall economic growth. Through promoting Tianjin as a tourism destination, we want to market Tianjin's overall resources and branding, and eventually promote Tianjin's power," She says.

Being part of a modern service industry, tourism increases employment and is environmentally friendly and energy-efficient.

Therefore, the segment deserves greater attention for further development, She emphasizes.

Tianjin Mayor Huang Xingguo endorsed She's points, saying that the city should spare no effort to develop a modern service segment, including the tourism industry.

In 2008, one important job for the Tianjin tourism authority is to integrate the city's tourism resources. The city is required to work out new and improved tourism products and services, develop city tours, casual tourism and commercial and exhibition tours, the Tianjin Mayor stresses.

Based on Tianjin's rich and multi-faceted tourism treasures, Tianjin's urban tours, casual tourism and commercial and exhibition tours all have positive market prospects, She believes.

In five years, the city is to invest 52 billion yuan, building up 20 projects and aiming to boost Tianjin's casual and vacation tours. Air Carrier Theme Park, Ocean Park, and Panshan Mountain Cultural City are among the 20 projects.

As the Binhai New Area develops, commercial and exhibition tourism will grow.

"As an international harbor city and the economic center of north China, the commerce and the exhibition industry will be a core component of Tianjin's economic structure," She says.

For urban tours, the Tianjin tourism authority is busy building tourism spots in urban areas. She's organization is planning 12 tour attractions, with eight completed already in urban areas.

For 2008, She expects Tianjin to attract 65 million domestic visitors, up 10 percent year-on-year.

Also Tianjin, as a co-host city of the 2008 Olympics, will welcome 1.2 to 1.3 million foreign tourists from all over the world this year, increasing around 25 percent year-on-year, She says.

"These are conservative figures and 2008 will turn out to be positive for Tianjin's tourism segment," the tourism bureau chief adds.

To meet rising demand in 2008, the Tianjin tourism authority will develop more products and train more tour guides. Last year, the Tianjin Tourism Bureau trained about 10,000 tour guides.

Tourism is to be a pillar industry for Tianjin by 2015, accounting for about 8 percent of local gross domestic product (GDP), according to She.

(China Daily September 27, 2008)