A launch ceremony for the latest in a series of weekly Ordos cultural events is held at Kuanzhai Alley scenic area in Chengdu, southwestern China's Sichuan province on Oct 21. [Photo/Wechat account of Ordos Release]

The launch ceremony for the latest in a series of weekly Ordos cultural events was held at Kuanzhai Alley scenic area in Chengdu, southwestern China's Sichuan province on Oct 21 – part of the region's efforts to boost its profile in China.

Officials said the latest events aim to showcase Ordos's distinctive ethnic minority culture, historical context, local customs and scenery.

As the brand activity of Ordos, the weekly Ordos cultural events have already been held in Beijing, as well as in Guangzhou and Shenzhen in southern China's Guangdong province.

They have also been staged in Harbin in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province, in Shanghai, as well as in Xi'an in northwestern China's Shaanxi province.

According to local media reports, the latest ongoing weekly events started on Oct 21 and run to Oct 25.

During the event, a promotions conference for the Ordos's tourism will be held to promote the tourism and key cultural tourism scenic spots in the city.

In addition, an Ordos intangible cultural heritage exhibition will be held to showcase various grassland cultural handicrafts. The exhibition will look at horsewhip crafting techniques and other handicraft production techniques.

At the same time, in order to better present Ordos's traditional songs and dances to people from all walks of life in Chengdu, five shows will be presented by the Ordos Ulan Muqir Art Troupe to promote Ordos.

According to local officials, exchanges and cooperation between Chengdu and Ordos have become increasingly close and frequent in recent years. And this was underscored in 2016, when giant pandas of "Qiqiao" and "Qixi" -- from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding -- settled in Ordos.

Officials say Chengdu and Ordos each have different location advantages, resource advantages and industrial characteristics, and all these give the two cities strong complementarity in their market demand, industries, resource integration and cultural exchanges -- and the potential for them to increase their levels of cooperation and exchanges is huge.