The second Playing with Water Festival kicked off in Hefei on June 3 with a group of summer travel choices available to tourists.

Liyang, marketing director of the festival, introduced four well designed tourism packages that are highlights of the festival. The Mountains and Rafting package includes Huangshan Mountains & Yangong River rafting, Tianzhu Mountain & Baimatan River rafting. The Theme Parks and Water Worlds package includes Fangte Theme Park & Fangte Water World, Gold Collar Theme Park & Gold Collar Water World. The Expedition and Rafting package features West Anhui Grand Canyon & Kongque (Peacock) River rafting, Rainbow Valley & Rainbow Valley rafting. The Water Playground Day Sessions and Evening Sessions package features Aqiuwan Water World & evening parties, Huohai Water World & evening performances.

To celebrate the coming Dragon Boat Festival, at the festival opening ceremony, scenic spots in Anhui province promoted themselves by offering specially-priced tickets - 79 yuan ($12.90) for Rainbow Valley, 98 yuan ($16) for Dapu Water World (June 10-12), and 68 yuan ($11) for Aqiuwan Water World (June 1-30).

As a key program of the festival, the first rafting competition in Anhui, covering 24 events, will launch on June 22 and last until August 25. A special award featuring a four-day free trip to South Korea and gold, silver and bronze medals (group/individual) will be awarded to the winners.

By Huang Pei

Edited by Michael Thai