Reporters from 13 Asian mainstream media organizations visit the Chengdu Planning Exhibition Hall on Wednesday morning. Chengdu Planning Exhibition Hall is the first stop of a tour to Chengdu jointly organized by China Daily and the Chengdu Municipal Information Office, from Sep 16 to 22.[Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/China Daily]

Before Saher Jahan Baloch, a reporter from Pakistan, arrived on Tuesday in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, she associated the city mostly with hot pot and giant pandas.

"I didn't expect it to be such a modern and international city," she said.

Baloch is among 20 reporters from 13 Asian media organizations who are touring Chengdu through Sept 22.

"I intended to write about the city's delicious food, which traces back through the city's long history. But after arriving in the city and getting to know more about it, I found so much more to explore," she said.

Muhammad Nadzri Bin Zailani, a reporter at The Brunei Times, said he was surprised by Chengdu's city planning during a visit to the Chengdu Planning Exhibition Hall on Wednesday morning.

"I didn't do much homework on Chengdu before I came because I think this is like watching a movie, and you avoid the spoilers," he said, adding that he believes the tour will be "a wonderful movie".

The tour, called "Discovering Chengdu", was organized by China Daily and the Chengdu Information Office and is part of the publication's "China in the Eyes of Asia Media" series, which it initiated in 2010.

Gao Anming, China Daily's deputy editor-in-chief, said Chengdu has become a new star in China's economic landscape and a leader among inland cities in opening to the outside world.

"We hope to showcase to the world the city's great potential of international development and great prospects in its opening-up, and to boost exchange and cooperation between Chengdu and the rest of the world," he said.

Bai Gang, director of the city's publicity department, said that Chengdu's opening-up has allowed it to become a major base for innovation and high technology and to be a hub for modern manufacturing, services and agricultural industries as it strives to become an economic growth engine of western China.

"We hope media friends have a better understanding of Chengdu and enjoy the time-honored modern and international city," he said.

Chengdu has a history of 2,300 years and was the starting point of the historical South Silk Road.

With a population of 14 million, Chengdu had a gross regional product of 484 billion yuan ($78.8 billion) in the first half of the year. Annual gross regional product is expected to exceed 1 trillion yuan.

A total of 255 Fortune Global 500 companies have established a presence in Chengdu. Bai said two-thirds of the world's iPads and half of the world's laptop chips are made in Chengdu and shipped mainly through Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, the largest airport in the central and western region of China.

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