BEIJING, August 1 -- The 5th China Shanhaiguan International Great Wall Festival ended at the east end of Great Wall in Qinhuangdao in north China's Heibei Province on Friday, attracting thousands of scholars and tourists.

    With the theme of "Peace, Friendship, Development", the 3-day festival was co-organized by the Hebei provincial government, State Administration of Cultural Heritage and China Great Wall Institute.

    A variety of activities were held during the festival, including the opening ceremony "Singing at the Great Wall" and a business conference to discuss the future development of Shanhaiguan region.

    Soundbite: Yaakov Nitzan, Israel Tourist I take great interest in the history of China, which of course goes together almost to today with the Great Wall. We are very excited here about being able to join the festival, seeing all your nice people gathering for the occasion. I'm hoping too, I'm almost sure that it'll be as it's interesting as it looks.

    The Great Wall, as one of the seven wonders of the world, was listed in the World Heritage by UNESCO in 1987. With a history of 2000 years, it was originally built as a defensive fortification. It winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus, stretching approximately 8,851 kilometers from east to west of China.

    Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Shanhaiguan (XHTV)