"Pandas' Home" the Special Promotion Conference of Chengdu Culture and Tourism was held in New York--City park under the snowy mountain, happy Chengdu in the fireworks

NEW YORK, March 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report by GoChengdu:

"Chengdu looks forward to be the first stop in China for visitors from all over the United States!" "City park under the snowy mountain, happy Chengdu in the fireworks" special New York promotion conference of culture and tourism was successfully held at the Chinese Consulate General in New York in the afternoon of March 6th local time.

With a theme of "Pandas' Home", this promotion conference was reported to be the first Chinese city promotion activity in North America after the global international tourism market pressed the "restart button", and was also the first stop of Chengdu's new round of global promotion of cultural tourism. Taking this as an opportunity, Chengdu will show the world the construction achievements of the world famous cultural city to highlight the splendid and colorful culture of this Land of Heaven.

"Chengdu Elegant Meeting" in Manhattan

In the afternoon of the same day, together with a delegation from Chengdu, the Chinese Consulate General in New York welcomed hundreds of guests from New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Rhode Island and other regions for the purpose of celebrating the grand event of international tourism cooperation and cultural exchange and mutual learning.

As one of the organizers, the Chinese Consulate General in New York has a territory covering 10 eastern states of the United States, a large number of overseas Chinese in the territory, and rich resources in local finance, culture, tourism, media and education, which has a good foundation for exchange and cooperation with China.

The President of the National Committee on US-China Relations Steve Orlins addressed at the event. More than 100 Chinese and American guests from all walks of life attended the event, including the New York Governor's Office, the New York City Foreign Affairs Office, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York, the Committee of 100, the Chinese American Association for the Advancement of Society, the U.S.-China Public Affairs Association, Cornell Botanical Garden, the American Tour Operators Association, and the Asia Pacific Travel Association, etc.

Chengdu will be more wonderful in the future

Consul General of China in New York Huang Ping delivered a warm welcome speech.

He said that, as the world-famous "Pandas' Home" and "Land of Heaven", Chengdu has not only a long history, beautiful scenery, hospitable people and amazing food, but also a strong economy, technological progress and flourishing humanities over the years. The achievements which was made by this rapidly growing modern international metropolis in western China have impressed overseas Americans deeply and made them yearn for. Chengdu came to the United States this time to hold the promotion conference, the prelude of cooperation has been started. We look forward to continued cultural, tourism and other practical exchanges and cooperation between the cities of New York and Chengdu, and to further promote friendly relations between the eastern United States and western China.

It was introduced by Chengdu delegation in the promotion speech that Chengdu was a famous historical and cultural city with an urban civilization of more than 4,500 years and a construction history of more than 2,300 years.

"Every 100,000 people in Chengdu has one panda." This introduction in the speech was envied by the guests. According to the introduction, Chengdu as the "capital of panda" was the only mega-city in the world with both wild and captive panda resources. The Chengdu Research Base of Panda Breeding can be said to be a "paradise" for pandas, in which there are more than 200 pandas, the largest captive breeding and protection population of pandas in the world.

Chengdu has the Qingcheng Mountain-Dujiangyan Irrigation System, world natural and cultural heritage sites like panda habitat and others, Wuhou Temple, Du Fu Cottage, Jinsha Site and other cultural sites, which are well known at home and abroad. Intangible cultural heritage such as Sichuan Opera and Shu embroidery has been passed on for thousands of years. Chengdu is the first "Gourmet Capital" in Asia awarded by UNESCO, the "World's Best Tourist Destination" by National Geographic, the best tourist city in China. Chengdu ranks first in the number of physical bookstores and second in the number of museums in China, and has been ranked the happiest city in China for 14 consecutive years.

After more than three years of separation, Chengdu has become more exciting. The enthusiastic presentation of the theme by the Chengdu delegation won warm applause.

According to the data, the Chengdu delegation presented the sincerity of a city eager for international exchanges: in recent years, Chengdu has a development goal of building an international gateway hub, and opened 131 international (regional) routes, laid out 48 business routes, 14 all-cargo routes, 30 international aviation channel of cultural and travel routes, 7 international railroad corridors, 5 international rail and sea transport channels. The Tianfu International Airport will be opened in June 2021, thus Chengdu has become the "third city" in China with dual international airports. While building an international channel system from a global perspective, Chengdu also vigorously promoted the linkage between foreign affairs, foreign capital, foreign economy, foreign trade and foreign propaganda. The number of settled Fortune 500 enterprises has increased to 315, the number of embassies and consulates in Chengdu has reached 23, and the number of international friend cities and cities with friendly cooperative relations has reached 106. The regional GDP has exceeded two trillion in 2022, ranking 7th in the country.

It was also mentioned in this promotion conference to the guests present that the 31st World University Summer Games will open in Chengdu on July 28 this year, the 2023 Chengdu World Science Fiction Convention will be held in Chengdu on October 18, and the World Horticultural Expo 2024 will also be held in Chengdu. All the guests presented got to know that the world would be able to know an open, inclusive, safe, friendly and dynamic Chengdu through more and more major international events!

It was reported that the World Horticultural Expo 2024 will be opened on April 26, 2024 with a duration of 186 days. The main venue has a planned area of 242 hectares, in which the new ideas, technologies, varieties and materials for flower and horticulture development from all over the world will be displayed together, as well as local history, humanity and green development achievements. As an open, cooperative and service platform facing the world, Chengdu World Expo has planned 120 exhibition gardens in seven exhibition zones at the main venue to provide a display and communicating platform for cities, enterprises, universities, association organizations and design masters from all over the world.

Press the "acceleration button" together

"We travel from Chengdu in western China to New York on the east coast of the United States under the spring breeze of the global tourism reboot for the purpose of sharing with you the 3,000 years history in the 'Land of Heaven' and the prosperous 'City of Jin Guan' beneath the snow-capped mountains." The Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Television introduced Chengdu's new tourism resources in the promotion conference, and extended a warm invitation to visitors from all over the United States.

For the purpose of strongly reviving the tourism industry and promoting cultural and international exchanges, Chengdu has rapidly resumed and encrypted a number of international and regional airlines in the first two months of this year. The number tourist received in Chengdu's A-class tourist areas has exceeded 8 million in this past Spring Festival, making it one of the most popular tourist destinations in China. Chengdu received its first inbound tourist group in three years just half a month ago.

"Since the United States has always been an important source market for Chengdu's inbound tourism, New York is also the first stop of this global promotion of Chengdu's cultural tourism. I hope Chengdu will also become the first stop in China for all of you presented and American travelers! You willl be able to experience traditional craftsmanship at non-genetic heritage sites such as Daoming Bamboo Weaving, feel the charm of Land of Heaven in ancient towns such as Jiezi, and taste authentic Chengdu hot pot in the spring blooming rapeseed fields for an authentic Sichuan taste."

Immersive Experience in Chengdu

The introduction session ended with applause, and Chengdu food tasting and free exchange began.

The Chengdu special snacks in the food tasting area, which were made by Chengdu chefs, like panda dumplings, bell dumplings, brown sugar patties, Dan Dan noodles, three fresh ice noodles, sad cold noodles and others on site, had gave the guests a real treat and received continuous praise.

According to the introduction by Chengdu delegation, Chengdu and the New York Consulate General worked together dedicatedly to create an immersive Chengdu experience space that can be seen, touched, heard, smelled and eaten beautifully on the site for the purpose of letting the presented guests to experience Chengdu in the shortest possible time.

Except for the food tasting area, a cultural and tourism display area and an interactive display area were also set up on site.

The attention of many conference participants was attracted by dozens of photos of Chengdu's cultural tourism theme in the cultural tourism display area, including panda habitats, art and humanities, park city construction, Tianfu Greenway and tourist attractions.

In the interactive display area, special exhibits which had being incorporated with Chengdu's cultural elements, like the mascot of the Universiade "Rongbao" doll, the panda cultural creation tote bag, the city-themed luggage tag, the cultural tourism Chengdu Jinsha double-ear cup, as well as the Chengdu creative three-dimensional book and the Joyful Tour of Rongcheng stamp organ folding, not only displayed Chengdu's sparkling and profound historical and cultural heritage, but also reflected the innovative vitality of a mega-city of 21 million people.

Meanwhile, the American friends were dazzled by the on-site demonstration of bamboo weaving by Chongzhou bamboo weaving non-genetic inheritors and the live face-transformation performance by Sichuan opera performers, and some guests even took the stage to experience the traditional skills themselves.

The guests, especially those from the U.S. travel industry, had further exchanges with the delegation on promoting American tourists to Sichuan and Chengdu during the free exchange. Dale Terry, President of USTOA (United States Travel Wholesalers Association), Opulencia Joebert, President of PATA (Asia Pacific Travel Association) New York Chapter, and others have expressed that, "The promotion conference held by Chengdu is unique. We are full of confidence in the promotion and sales of Chengdu tourism products after listening to your introduction today!"