NEW YORK - The publicity video of China's coastal city Suzhou made debut on Saturday at Times Square in New York City, introducing the ancient garden city with modern civilization to world audiences.

With the theme of "Suzhou China, a City with 2,500 Years", the 60-second video featured the city's signature Kunqu Opera performance, Suzhou gardens and delicate embroidery to bring the modern city with rich cultural background under the world spotlight.

The video was shown on the 60-foot (19-meter) high by 40- foot (12-meter) wide LCD screen located on 2 Times Square, which was leased by China's Xinhua Gallery Media Co., the first Chinese company to take over the advertising space at the "World's Crossroads."

New York resident Martin Atkins told Xinhua that although he had never been to Suzhou, the video made the city closer to him. "I am very impressed with the city's skyline as well as the Kunqu Opera performance shown in the video. Hope one day I could be there to experience this fantastic city."

Chen Rong, spokeswoman of Suzhou Municipal Government, said that the video is a new way for the city to brand itself. "We tried to show the city from the perspectives of the foreign audiences to let them have a better understanding of Suzhou," she said.

"As a city with a profound cultural heritage and highest degree of opening, Suzhou should take an active part in communicating with the rest of the world and increase its global competitiveness," said Suzhou Mayor Yan Li.

Suzhou is located in the core area of Yangtze River Delta in China, which is dubbed as "Paradise on Earth" thanks to its beautiful gardens and rich civilization. Since 1980s, Suzhou has been developing rapidly with the major economic indicators in the top ranking among Chinese cities.