by Al Campbell VANCOUVER, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Wind of Colorful Guizhou blew through Vancouver Tuesday for the final night of its four-city North American tour, with a sold-out show at the Canadian city's Queen Elizabeth Theater. Part cultural performance, part travelogue, the 90-minute show in front of a largely Chinese audience numbering about 2,500 did an admirable job of promoting the southwestern province to the uninitiated. From its opening song 'Colorful Guizhou,' the 45-member cast burst on to the stage in an explosion of colors, setting the tone for a lively evening of song and dance, drama, poetry and a host of beautiful, intricate costumes, more than 500 in all. Since its 2005 debut, largely to promote awareness of Guizhou to a global audience and to encourage tourism to the province, the show has toured extensively through China, Asia and Europe. This was its first North American tour, however, taking in performances in Boston, San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver. According to Guizhou government officials traveling with the production, the shows have been warmly received and hugely successful in an event that is being promoted as a cultural exchange and not a commercial entity. The North American shows have been slightly changed from earlier versions, and officials said they were hoping to bring the production back to Canada and America for commercial purposes in future. Xu Qi, Guizhou Provincial Department of Culture director general, said the province was rich multi-culturally and the individual cultures were well preserved. The show was to demonstrate the substantial heritage of the region and the human relationship in the form of music, costumes and dance. 'Culture and tourism is closely connected. We realize that in order to promote the tourism industry we have to promote the culture first. The show is to tell people that, if you come to Guizhou, you will not only see the natural beauty, you will also see the original cultures of the minority people. You will like the place, you will fall in love with the place.' With three large video screens providing translations in both Chinese and English, the production is set in an ethnic Miao village and shows the folk customs of 17 different cultural minorities, including the Buyi, Dong, Yi, Gelao and Shui, as well as the Han, among others. Against a backdrop depicting the ruggedness of the Guizhou landscape, the performance, akin to a beautiful batik, showcased a cultural ocean of song and dance unique in all of China. The performers quickly won over the audience when they exited the stage in the early numbers, surfacing in the crowd with samples of the local wine during the 'Toasting Song.' Other highlights included the Miao dance, 'Girls like water,' where a flowing river symbolizes the endless passions life can provide, and the Dong dance, 'Duo Ye,' depicting the joy of family and visiting with relatives and friends. The 'Song of the Cicada' proved the show-stopper as the famed tune showed how the grand Dong song honoring the sounds of nature reached as far as Paris and the banks of the Seine River. Ma Guanhui, one of the soloist singers, has been with the production from the start. Dressed in a blue velvet headpiece and an intricate Gelao costume made up of embroidered gold design with bell-like metal beads, the Hui singer said the North American audiences had been more curious about the culture in comparison to those in Asia and Europe. 'We were happy to see the warm response from the audience,' said Ma, who makes five costume changes during the show. 'We have been working this show very hard with rehearsals prior to every performance to ensure there are no mistakes. It has been a lot of work, but we can tell it has paid off by the response of the audience.' 