Landscape in Shandong Province

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ShandongProvince scenery

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Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region stages a traditional dance performance in Shanghai.

East China's Shandong Province and Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region promoted their culture and tourist attractions in Shanghai ahead of the National Day holiday.

Shandong Province released six new tourist itineraries in Shanghai to help Shanghai tourists savor its cultural, cuisine and emerging scenic areas ahead of the eight-day National Day holiday.

The trips embarking from Shanghai center on the province's mountain and water tourism resources.

They will take travelers to the Taishan, Laoshan and Yishan mountains, Shennu Peak scenic area, as well as old and new scenic spots along the Yellow River, Grand Canal and Yellow Sea, the Shandong Province Department of Culture and Tourism announced in Shanghai on Sunday.

Following these routes, tourists can explore settings from "The Water Margins," one of China's great classic novels, and also enjoy the province's delicacies.

"The Water Margins" tells the Song Dynasty (960-1279) story of 108 outlaws who gathered at Mount Liangshan to take up arms against the government.

The province is also the birthplace of Confucius (551-479 BC).

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Travel agencies in Shanghai and Shandongsign cooperation agreements in Shanghai.

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Shandong Province architecture

Strategic cooperation agreements were also signed between travel agency associations in Shandong and Shanghai.

The province's tourism market recovered quickly in August and September, with the number of tourists from Jiangsu, Henan and Hebei provinces growing significantly, the department said.

Shanghai and Shandong are major tourist source markets for each other, and are complementary in their tourism offerings, said Zou Bo, a counselor with the Shanghai Administration of Culture and Tourism.

They have joined hands in developing diversified and unique travel experiences for tourists for years, and the event will help Shanghai tourists experience the colorful folk customs of Shandong and the essence of traditional Chinese culture, said Zou.

Shandong boasts a variety of tourist attractions such as Mount Tai, the Temple of Confucius, Penglai Palace, Yimeng Mountain and Daming Lake.

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Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region holds a traditional performance in Shanghai.

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Ningxia displays its local tea ingredients.

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Ningxiashows off its intangible cultural heritage and specialties in Shanghai.

Ningxia HuiAutonomous Region kicked off its East China cultural and tourism promotion campaign in Shanghai during the Shanghai Tourism Festival recently with newly designed tourism routes.

The region also displayed its grape wine, Yanchitan mutton and babao tea with "eight treasures" like red dates and goji berries, and intangible cultural heritages in Shanghai.

Ningxia boasts rich and diverse cultural and tourism resources and it has developed new projects like a stargazing camping and minsu (Chinese-style B&Bs) cluster, said Wei Zhong, deputy director of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Department of Culture and Tourism.

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Ningxia organizes a cultural performance in Shanghai.

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Ningxia's intangible cultural heritage and specialties are shown in Shanghai.

The autonomous region is also introducing new cultural and tourism projects with development potential and improving its health product service standards to diversify its tourism product categories, he said.

Shanghai and Ningxia have conducted frequent exchanges in enriching tourism offerings, improving tourism services and satisfying the demands of tourists, said Cheng Meihong, deputy director of the Shanghai Administration of Culture and Tourism.

With the integrated cultural and tourism development, Shanghai and Ningxia will embrace new development opportunities, said Cheng.