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Nearly 600 performers from Beijing on Saturday staged a large parade for nearly two hours in Hollywood in an effort to showcase traditional Chinese culture to the American public and promote the 2008 summer Olympics, which will be held in the Chinese capital next year.

The event, jointly sponsored by the Beijing and Los Angeles municipal governments, attracted thousands of local residents and tourists, who gathered along Hollywood Boulevard to watch various culturally rich programs by those in colorful classic costumes.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, while inaugurating the event, said that it was a great honor for Los Angeles that Beijing chose it as the only U.S. city to hold such a gala.
Villaraigosa, who visited China while leading a trade and business delegation several months ago, said the two cities signed a friendship agreement last year and look forward to great prospects in fields like trade and tourism cooperation, noting that Los Angles has become the only foreign city with a tourism office in Beijing.

Besides more than 580 performers, aged from 7 to 70, from all walks of life in Beijing, some 200 schoolchildren and high school students from Los Angeles participated in the parade.