A drum performance is held at the opening ceremony for the 2019 Nantong Rural Tourism Festival in Rugao, Nantong, Jiangsu province, on June 22. [Photo/IC]

The 2019 Nantong Rural Tourism Festival and the 3rd Rugao Pingyuanchi Lotus Festival kicked off in Pingyuanchi village in the Rugao Economic and Technological Development Zone in Rugao, Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province, on June 22.

Pingyuanchi village is a national 3A-level tourist attraction and one of the country's most beautiful villages, mostly known for its lotus flowers during the summer.

During the opening ceremony, He Yijun, mayor of Rugao city, said that as a county-level city in the Yangtze River Delta region with a large number of A-level tourist attractions, Rugao has always put much focus on its rural tourism sector.

Rugao is currently home to one provincial-level five-star rural tourism area, four four-star ones, 18 three-star ones, and two-star ones, as well as one national rural tourism demonstration area, He noted.

The rural tourism festival will run until the end of the year and will consist of more than 20 activities highlighting countryside food, folk customs, flowers, and local intangible cultural heritage items.

Visitors take a selfie in front of a sea of lotus flowers in Pingyuanchi village, Rugao, Nantong, Jiangsu province, on June 22. [Photo/IC]

An aerial view of the lotus pond in Pingyuanchi village, Rugao, Nantong, Jiangsu province, on June 22 [Photo/IC]