Mark Levine, who because of his busy schedule only made it to the show at the last moment, said the final show was even better than he expected.

"The audience was very excited, the halls were filled, performers gave very good shows, the general mood, the happy atmosphere and they showed a lot of people the real benefits of bringing musicians from all over the world to play in such a beautiful place. I've never been to Zhangjiajie before but I'll never stop talking about it..."

Mr. Ye said the music week was a high quality event and those involved are very satisfied. However, he stressed there is still room for improvement and they will try to do an even better job next time.

The Zhangjiajie International Country Music Week was originally scheduled for every two years. Concerning the next country music week, Mr. Ye disclosed, they may consider adjusting the time arrangement and personally, he would prefer to have a second great week by the end of August and earlier September of 2010.

Previously, a first-ever cartoon image of Zhangjiajie's mayor Zhao Xiaoming in the promo ads for this country music week stirred up heated discussion online. The mayor cleared up rumors spread online during a press conference on May 16 and denied it was a hype on his own individual publicity. The mayor reaffirmed he took his cartooned image as an active try to promote both his official responsibility and his own city.

In response, Mr. Ye notified that the new try, also a way of self-marketing, proved to be appealing and was acclaimed by foreign friends. The cartoon image of the mayor has changed people's impression on the stereotype of Chinese cities and they find Zhangjiajie a city which is quite open and creative.

Ye added, "We will not only focus on the present but also look forward in the longer term to making Zhangjiajie a well-known center of active cultural exchange within and outside China and in this way, can we promote the city to the outside world."

(CRI May 19, 2009)