NEW YORK, NY, Thursday, June 5, 2014:

"Rediscover the Silk Road" Event

Xiong, Shanhua Gives the Welcoming Speech

China welcomed 2.08 million travellers from the US in 2013, the fourth-largest international group behind South Koreans, Japanese and Russians, according to China National Tourist Administration (CNTA) data.

And when most North American travellers visit China, they go to big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an.

But according to Xiong, Shanhua, China National Tourist Administration (CNTA) deputy director general of international communication and cooperation, there are many more interesting tourism routes awaiting travelers to China - and the Silk Road is one of them.

To let more tourism agencies, destination magazines and airlines know about the Silk Road, CNTA hosted a promotional event "Rediscover the Silk Road @ Beautiful China" in New York City on Thursday.

The Silk Road has accompanied 5,000 years of Chinese culture and history. It originated in Asia and ran for about 4,000 miles through the entire Eurasian continent, bridging Eastern and Western civilizations and Asian and European economies, politics, culture and ideologies for centuries.

It is a series of trade and cultural transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent by linking traders, merchants and monks from China to the Mediterranean.

Chinese tourism promotional group representatives at the event were from provinces along the Silk Road, including Ningxia, Qinghai, Shanxi, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Shanghai and Henan.

Yang, Tongde, vice-director of the municipal commission of tourism development from Luoyang, the capital city of Henan province, said they set up to welcome foreign travellers.

Douglas Cooke, representative from JAXFAX Travel Marketing said some of the destinations are fascinating. "I talked to people from several promotional booths. The travel information they showed me are so amazing," Cooke said. "I haven't had the chance to travel to China yet, but now I feel that I have to."

"Rediscover the Silk Road" Press Conference

Lili Host the Event