This aerial photo taken on Aug 3, 2023 shows a scene of a turning of the Yellow River in the border area between Shilou County of north China's Shanxi Province and Qingjian County of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Photo:Xinhua

Five provinces along the Yellow River promoted their cultural and tourism resources at an information session held in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Tuesday in a joint effort to boost international tourism along China's "Mother River."

Organized by the Network of International Culturalink Entities (NICE) and culture and tourism governing bodies from the Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Sichuan and Gansu provinces, the session is designed to promote the Yellow River tourist attractions in these five provinces. 

A multi-language guidebook on recommended tourism routes along the Yellow River was released at the session. The Yellow River Overseas Promotion will also be held in the US and South Korea and is scheduled to last till September. 

As the second longest river in China and one of the cradles of Chinese civilization, the Yellow River flows through nine provinces and regions in northern China.

In July, one session of the Yellow River promotion event was held in Yuncheng, North China's Shanxi Province, where English and French guidebooks containing nine selected tourism routes were released.

Chen Peijie, Chinese consul general in Sao Paulo, told the Global Times that the bilateral cooperation in culture and tourism between China and Brazil has deepened in recent years.

"With the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Brazil coming next year, we expect tourism professionals in both countries to seize the opportunity and expand cooperation," said Chen at the session. 

Former Brazilian minister of tourism Vinicius Lummertz, who has visited China on multiple occasions since the 1980s, said tourism is an important way to promote cultural exchanges and people-to-people understanding.

Citing the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite program and Great Wall-Iguazu Falls exchange program as examples, Lummertz said China and Brazil respect each other despite differences in language and culture to reach common ground in bilateral exchanges.

"The promotional event allows Brazilians to appreciate the thousands of years of Yellow River culture. Brazil also has rich tourism and cultural resources. Cooperation in the field of tourism will surely promote mutual learning and mutual understanding between the two peoples," Lummertz noted. 

Wan Ting, vice director of NICE, said China and Brazil accomplished a great deal in culture and tourism exchanges in recent years and he hopes the event will help Brazilian friends better understand China's "Mother River." 

"We welcome more Brazilian friends to come to China to experience the unique natural beauty of the Yellow River, and make new contributions to promoting cultural exchanges and tourism between China and Brazil," said Wan.