Badaling Great Wall joins hands with Canada's Rideau Canal

Representatives from Beijing Badaling Great Wall and Canada's Rideau Canal have held a ceremonial signing of a memorandum of understanding at Badaling Guancheng Square that makes them friendship scenic areas.

Badaling and Rideau Canal are landmark scenic areas of Beijing and Ottawa. Each of them is a world cultural heritage site and they have both played historic roles as strategic fortifications.

The parties will support each other in launching promotional activities and they will meet on an ad-hoc basis to discuss cooperation. In addition the Badaling office and Ottawa Tourism will exchange information related to tourism and conduct business exchanges and mutual visits.

The year 2010 is the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Canada, and it is also the tenth anniversary of Beijing and Ottawa becoming sister cities. Beijing tourism departments will promote featured tourist products in Ottawa, while Canada will bring presentations of Rideau Canal culture to Beijing. According to Noel Buckley, an official from the tourism marketing department of Rideau Canal, about 160,000 Chinese tourists visit Canada every year. As the fourth largest tourist city of Canada, Ottawa is hoping that this cooperation with Badaling will increase the number of Chinese tourists visiting the city by 50% over the next two years.