The Fourth Beijing International Tourism Cultural Festival opened Sunday, with a carnival parade featuring diversified drum performances.

Artists from 60 troupes and from 27 countries and regions, including China, Japan, Belgium and Thailand, staged ethnic drum dances as well as shows of their unique customs on Ping'an Avenue, a major thoroughfare in the Chinese capital.

With the theme "The World Getting Together in Beijing", the five-day event is jointly sponsored by the municipal government of Beijing and the China National Tourism Administration.

According to the organizers, an exhibition of antiques, art performances and tourism promotion activities will also be hosted during the festival.

(People's Daily 09/24/2001)