A Los Angeles resident admires pictures on display at a promotional cultural and tourism event for Zhejiang province on Dec 11. [Photo/zj.zjol.com]

A promotional cultural and tourism event for Zhejiang province, hosted by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, was recently held in Los Angeles, the United States. It attracted more than 100 representatives from local cultural, tourism, and media circles.

Song and dance performances were held and traditional handicrafts were displayed to showcase Zhejiang's distinctive local culture and history.

"We should encourage more communication between the peoples of China and the United States, so that they can better understand each other," said Gu Jin, cultural counselor of China's consulate-general in Los Angeles.

"I believe today's event will help attract more American visitors to Zhejiang," added Gu.

Zhejiang enjoys frequent cultural and tourism exchanges with the United States. Statistics show that the United States received 77,000 visitors from Zhejiang last year, up 25.3 percent year-on-year, while Zhejiang received 337,000 visitors from the US. The United States has become one of Zhejiang's three largest overseas sources of tourists.