Changsha in Hunan province launched an opening ceremony for an event to promote their two-oriented society which started in 2007, on Monday.

The two-oriented society is a concept to turn cities into resources-conserving and environment-friendly ones including Changsha, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan as experimental areas.

Foreigners including experts, entrepreneurs and international students will join in the next two-day trip to visits projects that already practice the concept.

"The most difficult part is to bring in the idea of environment protection," said Dominic Fitzgerald, an Irish representative who lectures at Hunan University of Commerce.

He said clearly many cities in China are facing tough issues on air pollution though he enjoyed his stay in Changsha because it was quiet and peaceful. "The event is a great chance for us to find out how companies are doing under the new strategies that are environmentally-oriented,” he said.

Cities like Xiangtan, which contain heavy industry, suffer from severe air pollution as China is going through a tough time tackling such issues.