A taste of the Czech Republic came to Shanghai yesterday as the country's tourist board launched "Czech Days in China."

The three-day event will give residents the chance to sample the cuisine of the European country, with traditional fair available free to anyone who drops by the Shanghai Hotel at lunch or dinner time.

But guests will have to pay for the country's famous beverages on show, including Pilsner Urquell beer, Czech wine and Becherovka herbal liqueur. Traditional Czech crafts will be showcased in the hotel lobby, such as decorating Easter eggs, figures made from maize leaves and other crafts.

In the evenings, guests can enjoy traditional Czech dance and singing performances. In addition, the Czech tourism delegation will hold workshops with local travel agencies.

The event is part of a 45-day road show held in China's 10 major cities, introducing the country to Chinese tourists.

The road show started on May 12 and will end on June 25. Shanghai is the fourth city it has visited. "But we will have the most participators in the city of Shanghai," said Martin Randus, marketing manager of Cedok Travel Corporation in the Czech Republic.

According to last year's statistics on tourists in the Czech Republic, 17,806 were from China, 0.3 percent of the total number.

"The budget we set on China is US$1 million," said Randus. "It's the biggest promotional project in the Czech tourism plan this year." He said the reason why so few Chinese tourists visited his country was because of strict visa regulations. The Czech Republic is not part of a 15-country European agreement that allows free travel for holders of a visa.

Chinese tourists prefer to travel to the countries covered by this agreement as they don't have to apply for extra visas.

The Czech Republic is looking to join the agreement by May next year. Famous tourist sights in Czech Republic are the city of Prague, and the spa town of Karlovy Vary.

The Czech Republic joined the European Union in May, 2004.

(Shanghai Daily June 5, 2006)