The Shanghai Tourism Festival is in full swing attracting thousands of people.

The event is held every year from Sept 13 to Oct 6, as part of the city's tourist promotion activities.

The festival offers all kinds of entertainment at various venues throughout the city - colorful floats, firework displays, parades, musical shows, and outdoor parties.

Despite heavy rain on the opening night of the festival, more than 400,000 visitors thronged Shanghai's famous Huaihai Road to watch the floats and performances by visiting troupes from France, Brazil, Japan, Germany and South Korea.

The floats, for the first time, were also paraded in the neighboring cities of Suzhou, Jiangsu province and Huzhou, Zhejiang province.

Organizers said they hoped to attract more visitors from the Yangtze River Delta through such arrangements in the future.

As part of the Shanghai festival was the Renaissance Yangtze Shanghai Hotel's Oktoberfest which ended on Saturday. The beer festival is also recognized as one of the city's most popular annual celebrations.

It featured the famous Weihenstephan beer from the world's oldest brewery in Bavaria, while live entertainment was provided by the renowned German band, Muenchner Musikanten, performing various German folk and pop songs. Each night, guests enjoyed a mix of competitions and lucky draws offering fabulous prizes.

Oktoberfest is a 16-day beer festival held each year in Munich, Germany from late September to early October. It attracts about 6 million people annually, and is an important part of Bavarian culture.

Shanghai, home to a large German community due to the presence of some big name German companies - Siemens, Volkswagen and BMW - celebrates an "authentic" version of the Oktoberfest, Hartmut Schaller, general manager of the Renaissance Yangtze Shanghai Hotel, said.

"It is a little smaller than the one in Munich, but the atmosphere is very much alike. Many of the people and companies we see here have attended the festival for many years.

"Over the years, it (Oktoberfest) has turned from a gathering of mainly expats to attracting more local people. Chinese people are willing to join in to learn more about the German ways of celebration," Schaller said.

About 800 to 1,000 people attended the festival each evening during its duration.

American Michael Lynch said it was his first-time experience.

"It was wonderful. Full of great music, food, beer and people from around the world.

"It reminded me of what we do back in Pittsburgh, where we also celebrate the festival with lots of dancing, singing and food," Lynch said.

(China Daily September 30, 2008)