A launch ceremony for Yangquan city's cultural tourism promotion event takes place in the Cangshan Mountain scenic area, Sept 20. [Photo/yqnews.com.cn]

A cultural tourism promotion event sponsored by Yangquan municipal government was launched in the Cangshan Mountain scenic area in Yangquan city, North China's Shanxi province, on Sept 20.

The event aimed to spur the development of Yangquan tourism, by innovating the designs of cultural tourism routes, increasing research and development on featured tourism products related to cultural relics and intangible cultural heritage, and implementing projects for improving cultural tourism services and implementing preferential tourism policies and promotions. 

The launch ceremony saw the release of six especially designed cultural tourism routes -- showcasing to visitors from across China the city's rich geological relics and paleontological fossil resources, the Great Wall culture, its farming history, gritware culture, folk customs and ancient commerce. 

As the eastern gateway to Shanxi, Yangquan has unique advantages with its tourism resources, said Wang Jihong, an official at the Shanxi Department of Culture and Tourism. 

He expressed the hope that the city would become an example of the integration of culture and tourism for other cities in Shanxi. 

Sun Ruifeng, deputy director of the Shijiazhuang bureau of culture, radio, television and tourism, delivered a speech on behalf of neighboring cities at the launch ceremony. 

He hoped that Yangquan and its neighbor Shijiazhuang would strengthen their cultural tourism exchanges and cooperation in the future.