The third Guangdong International Tourism and Culture Festival (GITCF) will begin on November 23 in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province.

The festival is organized by the Guangdong Tourism Administration, in collaboration with Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Company Limited, Guangdong Television and Guangdong Power Grid Co, and the Guangzhou Power Supply Bureau.

Having successfully held two international tourism and culture festivals, Guangdong Tourism Administration may be said to be in an even better position to organize a dazzling show.

It has decided to present the opening ceremony in cooperation with the famous entertainment company - Shanghai EE Media Co Ltd, which has hosted a series of successful singing competitions, including Super Girls and Happy Boys. Both these competitions are very popular in China and they have yielded a number of young pop stars.

Two such new stars, Yu Haoming and Zhang Jie, will perform at the opening ceremony of the festival. Both are among top 10 singers in the newest Happy Boy contest.

Li Shizu, chief director of the ceremony, said they have designed a creative opening routine for the festival.

Since Guangdong is a coastal province, its culture is related to the ocean. Moreover, the exploration of the famous shipwreck, Nanhai I, has recently entered its final stage and is about to become a new tourist destination in Guangdong.

In view of this, the theme of the ceremony has been based on the ocean and the ship, with Li giving it the beautiful name of Blue Ocean Tale.

Jackie Chan, who appeared in the first tourism and culture festival opening ceremony, will once again perform on stage.

Renowned Chinese singer Song Zuying will be another important guest at the ceremony.

The grand history of Nanhai I will be presented at the ceremony.

"The opening ceremony will not be a pure song and dance show, but a theater opera that tells the audience about the history, culture, tourism features and economic development of Guangdong," Li noted.

The Blue Ocean Tale is adapted from the history of Nanhai I, and depicts a love story between a princess and a common man.

Nanhai I has a history of more than 800 years and represents both the oceanic culture of Guangdong and China's connections to the Silk Road.

This ancient commercial ship, which is well preserved, has been identified by domestic and foreign experts as the oldest and largest commercial ship to be sunk in world history.

It is perfect evidence of the flourishing commercial history of Guangdong.

The ship contains a lot of relics that are still well preserved, which will astonish the world when the ship is hauled out of the ocean, believe experts.

Compared with the two previous festivals, the third Guangdong International Tourism and Culture Festival has many new highlights.

First, the Guangdong Foreign Affairs Office will organize an event named A Night of Friendship Cities during the festival, to which representatives from 10 foreign cities will be invited. So far, authorities of cities in Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia and Egypt have confirmed participation.

Another eye-catching feature of the ceremony is going to be the parade of floats, which was also held during the past two festivals.

But this year's parade will have more participants, with Japan and Australia sending their own floats to join the event.

Besides host city Guangzhou, a lot of other cities in the province will host different events to celebrate the festival.

The Guangdong Tourism Administration believes all these new events will help the upcoming festival be the most successful one in the history of the event. (By Liang Qiwen)