The Dizengoff Center, a big shopping mall located in Israeli city of Tel Aviv, was full of local Israelis on Monday afternoon who were attracted by the promotion event titled "Charming Beijing".

The Beijing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau organized the event, aimed to help more Israeli people learn the culture and tourism features of Beijing and attract them to visit the Chinese capital.

Beijing is a fascinating tourism destination rich in traditional culture and modern civilization, said Ju Qiang, deputy director of the bureau's Festival and Events Organizing Department.

Ju said that Beijing and Tel Aviv have conducted comprehensive cooperation in recent years.

As direct flights between Beijing and Tel Aviv increase, the relations between the two cities are becoming closer, said Ju, adding a broader and deeper cooperation, especially in culture and tourism, is expected to realize in the future.

Since the establishment of the sister city relationship in 2006, people-to-people exchanges and cooperation have been seen increasing between the two cities.

The "Charming Beijing" promotion event was another example of flourishing relations between Beijing and Tel Aviv, and served as a valuable showcase for Beijing, said Tao Chen, the director of the China Cultural Center in Tel Aviv.

Beijing has been the political center of the country, and the city is renowned for its historical palaces, temples, parks, tombs, city walls and gates, said Tao.

During the event, a photo exhibition presented audience a both traditional and modern Beijing. A series of interactive cultural activity were also held and a great number of Israelis participated with great joy.

Many of the Israeli visitors showed interest in trying Chinese calligraphy, paper cutting, and painting lanterns and opera masks. They were also glad to put on Chinese ancient costumes to take photos.

Delighted by the activities, many of the visitors expressed wishes to visit Beijing and other places of China.

Alex Kaplan, 48 years old, told Xinhua that he visited Beijing twice in the past decade, saying great changes have happened in Beijing now with a lot of skyscrapers and busy traffic.

He was amazed to see Chinese people are now enjoying a cash-free life style through well established and integrated mobile payment.

Diskin Etty, 70, was excited when she won the first prize in a lucky draw, a round-trip ticket between Tel Aviv and Beijing. Five years ago, she traveled to Beijing together with her family and climbed the Great Wall there. She said they were deeply impressed by Chinese cuisine and Chinese people's hospitality.

Mike Dove, a 51-year-old father, wrote "happy birthday" in Chinese with brushes on red paper, saying it will be a special gift for her daughter, who will turn 18 years old soon.

Through the "Charming Beijing" event, Israeli people could learn the process that Beijing is experiencing from history towards modern times, and feel the friendship between between China and Israel, said Zhang Qian, director of the department of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Beijing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau.

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