A grand ceremony was held yesterday morning in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province to mark the 1,400th anniversary of Japan sending envoys to the city during the Sui Dynasty.

Known previously as Chang'an, Xi'an was the capital of the Sui Dynasty (AD 581-618) and the ensuing Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).

More than 2,000 people, including about 600 Japanese headed by former Japanese prime minister Tomiichi Murayama, attended the event where a 15-meter-long and 12-meter-high boat built to replicate those the Japanese envoys sailed on was unveiled.

Constructed by Zhejiang Province's ancient boats master builder Cen Guohe for more than 1 million yuan (US$133,300), the boat, whose widest part is 5.2 meters, is called the Boat for Envoys to the Sui Dynasty.

Chinese and Japanese visitors boarding the replica were accompanied by the release of 1,400 birds of peace.

Shaanxi Provincial Foreign Affairs Office chief Zhang Baowen said the gesture signified permanent friendship between the two peoples and the start of the new voyage of Sino-Japanese relations this year - which marks the 35th anniversary of the normalization of their diplomatic relations.

The boat is on display in the Tang Dynasty West Market Museum as a witness to friendly exchanges between the two countries, Zhang added.

As part of the ceremony, the First Sino-Japanese Plaza Cultural Festival was also held in the marketplace where musicians from both countries performed.

The Tang Dynasty West Market was the world's largest market and the world's most prosperous international trade hub during the period.

More than 4,000 foreign envoys including those from Japan stayed in Chang'an. Many of them lived there for more than 40 years.

To revisit the former glory of the Tang Dynasty, a company in Xi'an is investing 3.5 billion yuan (US$467 million) to build a new Tang Dynasty West Market.

(China Daily October 29, 2007)