The 17th China Huadian White Birch Festival kicks off in Huadian, Northeast China's Jilin province, with an opening ceremony held on Sept 1. In an attempt to boost the local tourism industry, this year's event will have a series of 12 activities including an opening ceremony, food fairs, artistic performances, as well as painting, calligraphy and photography exhibitions. [Photo provided to gojilin.gov.cn]

An artistic performance is staged at the opening ceremony, Sept 1. This year, Huadian city has launched 10 boutique tourism routes. From January to August, tourists made a total of 360,000 visits to the city and the tourism revenue was 234 million yuan ($33.74 million). [Photo provided to gojilin.gov.cn]

An artistic performance featuring Korean music and dancing is staged during the opening ceremony, Sept 1. This year's event will run until the year-end. [Photo provided to gojilin.gov.cn]