PARIS, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Parisians are pleased Thursday to see the Paris beach set up for the fifth time since 2002, lasting from July 20 to Aug. 20.

    Some 2,500 tons of sand have been extended along a 2.5 km-long quayside of the River Seine, dotted with 68 palms stretching some eight meters high, deckchairs and beach umbrellas.

    This year's Paris beach has taken Tahiti as its theme, with visitors invited to take part in dance classes, shows and workshops in traditional Polynesian huts erected among a lush tropical jungle.

    The whole project cost some 2.2 million euros (2.7 million dollars) and took some 1,500 workers. Completely free, the Paris beach is expected to attract some four million visitors after the 3.8 million who flocked to it last year.

    "Paris Plages is a gesture of solidarity with all those, and there are hundreds of thousands of them in Paris and its surroundings, who cannot afford to go on holiday," said the city's mayor Bertrand Delanoe, during Thursday's inauguration.

    This idea of Paris Mayor Delanoe has been copied in other French cities such as Lyon, Toulouse, Dijon and Lille, as well as other capitals like Berlin, Tokyo and Budapest. Enditem