BEIJING - It's the Chinese Year of the Dragon, but to kick off his visit to China, Prime Minister Stephen Harper brought a horse.
The mascot for the Calgary Stampede was part of the prime minister's first event in Beijing, the launch of a tourism marketing campaign to attract more Chinese tourists to Canada.
The number of Chinese visiting Canada has jumped 25 per cent since it was made an approved destination by the Chinese government in 2009.
Harper says tourism is one of the few industries in the world whose raw material is goodwill and says the world needs more of that.
Building closer people-to-people ties is one of the key themes of Harper's three-city tour.
Later today, he'll be taking part in a business roundtable and a bilateral meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
