- Details
-
Category: Ningbo News
-
Published: Tuesday, 31 July 2012 08:20
As the high season for Ningbo's tourism industry sets in, local tourism market gets hot. In this summer, the Middle East and Africa travel routes are particularly popular for the unique feature and low price.
"Africa and the Middle East routes are much cheaper than the European and American tours," said a manager in a local outbound travel agency. Travel tours to European countries and the United States usually cost more than 10,000 yuan while the Middle East and Africa routes are relatively cheaper. So far, the number of tourists booking the Middle East and Africa tours doubled compared to last year. Most of them choose Dubai as their destination.
According to the Ningbo-branch manager of www.tuniu.com, a popular travel website in China, the Middle East and Africa offer a host of natural attractions as well as the cultural diversity. "The five thousand years of magnificent civilization of Cairo, the Middle East scene of Dubai, the mixture of Europe and Western culture of Istanbul ... all these are huge attractions for tourists."
Another attraction for the tourists is the welcoming temperatures of the southern hemisphere. In addition, the spectacular annual migration of wildlife from July to September in Kenya offers a breathtaking landscape for tourists around the world.
In recent years, the Middle East and Africa are two emerging destinations for local tourists. The industry insiders suggest tourists should respect the cultural and religious differences to avoid offending local sensitivities
- Details
-
Category: Governmental News
-
Published: Tuesday, 31 July 2012 08:20
Recently, Haishu Districtet has set up its first mutual-aid fund for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The fund raises 103 million yuan from 44 enterprises and it is aimed to provide lending services for them. The effort is supposed to ease the financial pressure of SMEs by "holding them together".
The Fund is initiated by Haishu Industrial & Commercial Industry Association in a bid to help its member companies who suffer cash-flow problems. Minsheng Bank serves as its financing platform. The first batch of benefiters are those member companies with the financing needs. The fund is used to provide financial guarantee for its members when applying for bank loans. Minsheng Bank will select those companies with good credit, and it might grant bank loans as high as 5 times of the total amount of mutual-aid fund.
- Details
-
Category: Ningbo News
-
Published: Tuesday, 31 July 2012 08:19
Ningbo's Jiangbei District will renovate its water supply networks in 14 residential areas this year in a bid to improve water quality and supply networks, which faces severe shortages. The renovation project of six residential areas will start bidding in the end of this July.
"2012 is the second year of the 3-year water supply renovation project. We have started 10 residential areas a year before and completed eight so far. We plan to renovate 14 residential areas this year and 18 next year," said an official from Jiangbei Urban Management Bureau. He added the Ningbo Water Supply Corporation is responsible for the renovation project and it will complete the renewal and extension of the water supply networks in service for 14,500 residents in 42 residential areas. Currently, the renovation design for the 14 residential areas has been finished. Eight residential areas are already under construction and they are scheduled to be completed this October. The renovation of the rest six residential areas will be completed in November.
Water supply authorities said some water supply pipelines in this district get damaged and worn-out due to aging or lower standards facilities and threaten water quality. Last year, Jiangbei District invested nearly 130,000 yuan in a pilot renovation project, which renewed two pump stations and benefited 664 households.