The first culture festival was held in Rudong county, Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province, on April 27.

The festival featured a cooking contest, exhibitions of folk customs and local tourism products, as well as promotions of snacks and specialties.

Xu Dongjun, vice-governor of Rudong, hosted the opening ceremony of the festival.

In recent years, Rudong has made consistent efforts to integrate its cultural and tourism sectors and promote its distinctive art, cuisines and cultural heritages, aiming to bring new energy to local culture.

The county has seen increasing numbers of tourists over the past years and has become well-known as the "county of longevity", "county of green power", "county of seafood" as well as the "county of education".

Zhang Rongrong, director of publicity department of the county, said at the ceremony that Rudong had moved into the fast lane, with government organs at all levels committed to high quality growth of the cultural and tourism sectors.