Zhou Jinglu/Shanghai Daily news 

As an important part of 2005 Shanghai Tourism Festival, the Eighth Zhujiajiao Town Tourism Festival in Qingpu District opened on September 19.
The opening ceremony will include a parade of 23 floats and 20 performance troupes from China and abroad along Gongyuan Road.
The festival wraps up on October 6.
The event will also include a group visit to the Qingpu Museum, the old town of Zhujiajiao, and a one-day tour of Grand View Garden - a site made famous in the classic novel "Dream of the Red Mansion."
"We try to let much more people, either locals or those from abroad, further understand Qingpu. We hope everyone would like to take part in it," said Mi Zumou, director of the Qingpu Tourism Bureau.
The parade is the most important part of the whole festival. Nine of the 23 floats are from foreign countries, such as Singapore, Spain, Australia, Malaysia, Mexico, Indonesia and Japan. Each float has its own special style.
The float from Queensland, Australia is filled with fresh green plants and some stuffed koala bears. The Spanish float shows the country's well-known bullfighters and a beautiful Gypsy girl dancing.
"This is the first time that so many foreign countries have taken part in the festival together with local people, and it's a good chance to show both the Western culture and traditional Eastern culture," Mi said.
The domestic floats are from Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Jiangxi provinces. Some popular scenic spots are displayed on the floats, such as West Lake in Zhejiang Province, Oriental Green Boat in Shanghai, Lushan Mountain in Jiangxi Province.
There are many brilliant programs scheduled to run from September 19 to October 6.
Visitors to Grand View Garden can see many sites from the series Red Dream, a famous story of the four famous classical works of the Ming and Qing dynasties in China: "Journey to the West," "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," "Tale of the Water Margin" and "Dream of the Red Mansion."
Some actors and actresses dressed in ancient clothing will tell the story through dance.
The group visit to Zhujiajiao, an ancient town, shows a different culture in the modern city. In the town, you can find some traditional musical instruments such as the pipa, vertical bamboo and flute. There are also some folk dramas available, including various forms of opera.
Mi hopes the festival will help foreign visitors gain a better understanding of the Qingpu and its traditional culture. He also hopes the tourism festival will become an annual event in the district.