Tasting local food and enjoying tourist resorts and performances, about 50 representatives of countries and organizations participating in the Expo Shanghai were having a tour yesterday in the city of Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, on the first of 11 Yangtze cities' Friendship Days for Expo 2010.

The Shanghai 2010 World Expo organizer signed cooperation deals last year with 11 Yangtze Delta cities including Changzhou, Yangzhou, Zhenjiang and Taizhou in Jiangsu Province, and Nantong, Huzhou, Jiaxing, Zhoushan and Taizhou in Zhejiang Province for a Friendship Day during the Expo. On each Friendship Day, the representatives of Expo participants visit a different city and experience local life. Aiming to further China’s international relations in line with the Expo as well as strengthen inter-regional ties between Yangtze cities, the Friendship Day is one of the major activities of Expo 2010.

In Jiaxing, representatives were invited into locals' homes to enjoy residents' Yueju Opera performance, taste locally made Zongzi, a traditional Chinese food made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves, ,learn to make fragrance bags marking the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival, learn about Chinese traditional medicine and try Chinese calligraphy and paper cutting skills.

Rachel Collis, commissioner general of Antigua and Barbuda's Expo Pavilion, said that Zongzi was delicious and has better appearance and taste compared to her home country's counterpart.

Representatives also toured a workshop inside Jiaxing's Creative Industry Park. They enjoyed viewing a metal waste transformed into metal sculptures such as "helicopter," "transformer," "pigs" and "young woman in a sport car." These representatives of Expo participants also posed for photos with a metal sculpture "band."

They then toured a local geology museum, visited a local technology park and viewed a Southeast China style Chinese Kungfu show in the afternoon. They also planted trees marking friendship to commemorate this event.

In the evening, they toured Jiaxing moat in a decorated boat.

Jiaxing is about a 90 minutes drive away from Shanghai. The city, easily connected to Shanghai via railway, highway and frequent shuttle buses, is famous for its glutinous dumplings and various scenic spots.