Huangshan, a popular scenic city in east China famous for its imposing Huangshan Mountain, on Tuesday welcomed the first charter flight from Seoul.

A total of 121 tourists arrived in the city in Anhui Province at 6:10 p.m. Tuesday, after 183,600 of their compatriots toured the city last year.

Huangshan has become a tourist attraction after Guilin and Zhangjiajie for people from the Republic of Korea (ROK), said officials with the city's tourism department.

Huangshan is scheduled to open airlines to the ROK this summer. It will be the first time for the Huangshan airport to receive airlines from foreign countries.

The airport planned seven return flights between the ROK city of Inchon and Huangshan every week, and two return flights between Pusan and Huangshan.

Huangshan received a record 10 million tourists last year and garnered a tourism revenue of more than 6.1 billion yuan (US$752 million).

To attract more tourists from both at home and abroad, the city's travel agencies have established more than 10 branches in major Chinese cities and capitals of neighboring countries such as Seoul of the ROK.

The tourism department of Huangshan said earlier that they were confident that the city will become an internationally recognized resort in the future.

(Xinhua News Agency April 12, 2006)