The regional government intends to attract worldwide attention to its landlocked and once backward region and wants to become more open to the outside. It is doing this by organizing three festivals -- an international sand sculpture contest, a national wolfberry festival and an international rare stone festival and exhibition.

The sand sculpture contest begins on August 3. It is jointly sponsored by the World Sand Sculpture Association and the Ningxia Autonomous Regional Government. Ten teams from China, the United States, Japan, Russia and Spain will participate.

As a region widely covered by desert, it boasts rich sand resources for the contest.

August 17 will see the opening ceremony of the national wolfberry festival. The wolfberry, a red mountain berry with thick flesh, is a regional speciality. It is believed once the berry's big commercial potential is tapped it will help the region's lagging economy.

The international rare stone exhibition and festival, jointly sponsored by the regional government and the Chinese Collectors Association, is to be held on August 16-21. At least 1,500 rare stones will be on display.

( July 26, 2002)