The Wutai Mountains, a famous scenic resort in North China's Shanxi Province, received 8,900 overseas tourists in the first eight months of this year, up 52 percent from last year.

The mountains serves an important part of the tourism promotion plan of the province, which has spent 13 million yuan (1.5 million US dollars) to clean up the surrounding environment of the mountains.

The province has many scenic landscapes and cultural relics, such as the Yungang Grottoes, one of China's largest ancient group grottoes, and the Wutai Mountains, one of the four most sacred mountains for Buddhists in China.

The most outstanding tourist site is the ancient city of Pingyao, which was included on the world heritage list by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on December 3, 1997.

In recent years, the Shanxi provincial government has made great efforts to develop the local tourist industry, including improving transportation, upgrading services and organizing a series of promotion activities.

(Xinhua News Agency 10/02/2001)