A Russian-tourist activity center has opened in the summer sea resort of Beidaihe in north Hebei Province to meet the demands of booming tourism, local tourism authorities said Thursday.

The 12,000-square-meter facility with room for more than 2,000 people mainly consists of a grand hotel and a European-style wedding palace.

The hotel features Russian food and drink, Russian music and dance shows, and Chinese traditional medicine, physical therapy and massage. The wedding palace has a disco hall, a wedding hall and a conference room.

Beidaihe began receiving Russian tourists in 1994, and nearly 50,000 visited last year, accounting for nearly 90 percent of the total foreign tourists to Beidaihe in 2010. Beidaihe has been called a "Russian holiday paradise."

Mao Zedong went to Beidaihe frequently in the 1950s, and in 1954 he wrote the famous poem "Waves Washing the Sand: Beidaihe." Currently, it is a popular summer destination for many Chinese officials.