HEADING the nine-man Chinese delegation will be Cai Qi, president of the People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries as well as Xu Yuning, his secretary-general.

Their tour will begin at the biocentre at York Science Park in the morning plus an afternoon visit to the offices of The Evening Press, where Wang Jianhua, Chief Editor of the Quzhou Daily will meet Liz Page, managing director of York & County Press.

The party then gets a flavour of tourism in York with a visit to the National Railway Museum, which, between May and June commemorates 200 years of rail travel.

That will also be an opportunity for the delegates to meet Mr Hunter of GSPK Circuits.

They will get an official welcome from the Lord Mayor of York, Coun Charles Hall at the Mansion House, where they will also meet Andrew Waller, deputy leader of the city council.

Later there will be a discussion on tourism economy and York's plans for next year's Chinese New Year Festival with Delma Tomlin, director of the National Centre for Early Music and Ian Tempest, of the First Stop York Tourism Partnership.

Updated: 13:37 Tuesday, April 27, 2004