The 2014 Xiangcheng Yangcheng Lake tourism festival kicked off in Xiangcheng district, Suzhou, Jiangsu province, on Sept 20.

The city of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, holds an opening ceremony for the 2014 Yangcheng Lake tourism festival on Sept 20, 2014. [Photo/suzhou.gov.cn]

Xiangcheng boasts rich tourism resources, such as Meirentui Peninsula, Lotus Island, Suzhou Wedding Mall, the Xiangcheng Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum, and the Yangcheng Lake Ecological Leisure and Tourism Vacation Zone. Free Wi-Fi covers Lotus Island to facilitate the spread of tourism information, payment for online tickets and crabs, and reservation for restaurants.

On the same day, the Yangcheng Lake tourism vacation zone launched a smart tourism website and an official WeChat account. Visitors can scan the QR code to attend a discount sale activity that allows them to buy two crabs for only 1 yuan ($0.16). The activity will last 50 days with 100 pairs of crabs offered each day.

The photo taken on Sept 20, 2014, shows a fisherman catching crabs in Yangcheng Lake, Suzhou, Jiangsu province. [Photo/suzhou.gov.cn]

In addition, the tourism vacation zone has cooperated with the online travel agency LY.com to launch a Yangcheng Lake crab tourism campaign in promotion of Xiangcheng's ecological tourism, rural tourism and cultural tourism.

During the three-month festival, visitors will be treated with a series of activities, including a photography contest, a food exhibition and a crab catching contest. Every week, the crabbing contest will select five visitors who catch the most crabs. Each of them will be awarded with six Yangcheng Lake crabs for free.