As a symbol of the friendly ties between Yangzhou and Orléans, a customized Yangzhou boat will be presented to Orléans, marking the first boat from Asia to appear at the Vitiloire festival.
To fully showcase oriental elements, the boat, 10 meters long, 2.2 meters wide and 2.5 meters tall, is made with the traditional techniques for making wooden boats, which is a national intangible cultural heritage. Elements of Yangzhou gardens are carved on the window frames and the boat itself, hence the name Yangzhou.
The 1,000-kilometer Loire River is the longest in France. Since 2003, the city of Orléans has been holding the five-day Vitiloire festival, the largest river boating event in Europe, every two years. Yangzhou is the first city outside Europe invited to participate in the festival in order to promote China's river culture in France.
In November 2015, Orléans and Yangzhou signed the memorandum of friendly exchange and tourism cooperation agreement, and the two cities have had 14 mutual visits in the past 1.5 years, achieving great results in tourism, economy, education and festival celebration.
