CHENGDU: The capital of Sichuan province began its promotion to lure tourists by issuing 20 million tourism cards yesterday.

Each card costs 1 yuan ($0.14) and 15 million of them will be given to people outside Sichuan, said Mu Tao, deputy chief of Chengdu tourism administration.

Until the end of the year, cardholders can visit 11 tourist attractions in the city without paying entrance fees, a total saving of 708 yuan. However, Sichuan cardholders, who get the other five million cards, will have to pay half the fares