Sichuan Province launched the "Beautiful China, more than pandas" tourism promotion activities on Chengdu-Europe freight trains on Dec. 15 in its capital city Chengdu. [Photo from scta.gov.cn]

Sichuan Province launched the "Beautiful China, more than pandas" tourism promotion activities on Chengdu-Europe freight trains on Dec. 15 in its capital city Chengdu.

The tourism promotion activities are held to align with the China-EU Tourism Year 2018 to attract more international tourists.

In the future, the province will introduce its rich tourism resources and products to countries and regions along the Chengdu-Europe freight train routes via a series of efforts and events. Presently, Chengdu has launched freight train services to 11 European cities. 

Sichuan Province launched the "Beautiful China, more than pandas" tourism promotion activities on Chengdu-Europe freight trains on Dec. 15 in its capital city Chengdu. [Photo from scta.gov.cn]

As of Dec. 4, Chengdu had run 777 freight trains to Europe, ranking No. 1 among Chinese cities that have opened China-Europe Railway Express train services, according to Zhang Jing, executive deputy general of Chengdu International Railway Service Co. Ltd.,.

Zhang said, the figure accounted for about one third of the national total.

The "Beautiful China, more than pandas" global tourism promotional campaign, organized by China National Tourism Administration and undertaken by Sichuan Provincial Tourism Development Committee, kicked off in Berlin, capital of Germany last September. So far, various activities have been staged in 20 cities of 12 countries and regions. 

Sichuan, a hot tourism destination in China, has raked in a total of 717.23 billion yuan in tourism revenue in the first three quarters of the year, a 16.3 percent increase year on year.