There are other places to go in China besides Beijing and Shanghai, and Chongqing is one of them.

"Not only should the major cities in China be known by foreigners, but also other cities with beautiful natural scenery," Li Li, executive vice-president of the Sino-American Friendship Association (SAFA) said at a forum discussing Chongqing's tourism on Nov 20 at the Grand Hyatt in New York.

A dozen or so representatives of the US tourism industry attended and offered advice and ideas for promoting Chongqing, which is less well known than other major cities, perhaps because of its inland location.

Before the discussion, a 30-min program entitled "Chongqing: China's City of Opportunity", which was broadcast on ABC 7 New York in September, was shown. The program illustrates the mega-city's culture, scenery, cuisines and how it is known internationally for its role in manufacturing, business and education.

Built on mountains and flanked by the Yangtze and Jialing rivers, Chongqing is known as a "mountain city" and a "city on rivers".

Situated at the transitional area between the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the plains of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze in a sub-tropical climate zone, it is swept by monsoons and often enveloped in fog.

Because of its unique scenery of forests, springs, waterfalls, gorges, and caves, the area has inspired many poets over the centuries.

During the discussion, Simone Bassous, executive director of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, recalled her visit to Chongqing a few years ago.

"I visited the Dazu Rock Carvings that are mentioned in the program and took a cruise to enjoy the views from the Yangtze River, which is a memorable experience," Bassous said.

"The American public has wanted to go to the Yangtze River, so people will know where Chongqing is because of the river," said Bassous.

She said the program shows the soul of both an ancient and highly modernized city, which provides American audiences a new perspective to understand the modern Chinese city.

During the forum, attendees discussed how to use each other's advantages and characteristics to do promotion on each other's platforms, how to promote mutual understanding and how to provide high quality travel services to meet growing passenger demand.

Since 2016 was named the year of China-US tourism during President Xi Jinping's state visit to the US in September, Li said she hoped the communication and collaboration between the two big cities of Chongqing and New York could be strengthened.

Li said that still more effort should be put into promoting tourism to China's cities.

In 2016, more Chinese tourism programs will be produced and introduced to US television. In the upcoming Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and Times Square New Years Eve celebration, Chinese elements will be seen by the whole world.