'Malaysia Boleh' Tourism Boost In China's South By Tham Choy Lin YANGSHUO (GUILIN), April 20 (Bernama) -- When Tourism Malaysia put together its first roadshow in southern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, there was a four-day gap between its shows in capital Nanning and Guilin. Organiser Suhaimi Shaharuddin, who is the Tourism Malaysia director in Guangzhou, remembered a Malaysian hotelier he met at a tourism conference in Guilin last year. He called Edmund Lim and was rewarded with an immediate "yes" from the resident manager of the Paradesa Hotel based in Yangshuo, about 65km from Guilin. Thus, the tourism delegation, including a dance troupe from Sabah and three chefs, made the detour to Yangshuo, a laid-back backpackers paradise in the depths of China's south which now draws over five million tourists annually. In just two days, Paradesa Hotel set up the props and invited local government officials and 100 travel agents from Guilin and Yangshuo to watch the Malaysian cultural performances and a third performance was opened to the public including, foreign tourists. "We were very touched by the ready response from the hotel which also sponsored the rooms and food for the entire group. After this, I look forward to working with Paradesa on getting the locals and also foreign tourists visiting Yangshuo to visit Malaysia," Suhaimi said. Paradesa Hotel with its beautiful lake and landscaped garden located in the heart of Yangshuo's teeming Xi Jie (West Street) is majority-owned by Sarawakian businessman Chua Beng Thian, in a joint venture with Yangshuo county. Yangshuo is only an hour's drive from Guilin airport, which is serviced by Air Asia. The budget carrier began flying to Guilin last September and is increasing its flights from four a week to a daily service from next month. "It is a win-win situation. We took the three Malaysian chefs into our kitchen and they taught the local cooks how to prepare seven Malaysian dishes," said Lim, who hails from Sarawak. Lim reckons that by next month, the four-star hotel will include satay, mamak mee goreng, Hainanese chicken rice, rendang, chicken curry, bak kut teh and assam fish head in its menu after several more rounds of food tasting. Yangshuo outrivals Guilin with its green limestone peaks and rustic villages dotted with padi fields, bamboo rafts expeditions along the Li River or Yulong river and fishermen using cormorants to net their catch. "It is very popular with European travelers during the peak months of April and May, and September and October. Our guests are mainly from Europe and the United States," Lim said. -- BERNAMA