Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin hosted a news conference Tuesday in Tokyo to promote Taipei as a tourist destination for Japanese visitors and drum up interest in the 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo. Hau presided over the event at the Imperial Hotel Tokyo. He was accompanied by Judy Ongg, a popular singer from Taiwan who lives in Japan, and Lin Yu-chun, a young singing sensation who shot to fame after appearing on a Taiwanese talent show. The nearly 300 guests included John Feng, Taiwan's top envoy to Japan. Ongg, wearing a traditional Chinese qipao dress, accepted Hau's invitation to serve as ambassador in Japan for the floral exposition, which will kick off on Nov. 6 in Taipei. Hau said the floral expo will be the first of its kind for both Taipei and Taiwan. Some 30 million pots of 3,300 species of flowers will be exhibited during the six-month event, including 250 pots of orchids over 60 years old. 'I will do my best to invite Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara to visit the Taipei floral Expo on board a direct flight between the two cities,' the Taipei mayor said. Flights between Taipei's Songshan Airport and Tokyo's Haneda Airport will be resumed from Oct. 31 this year, significantly reducing the travel time between the two cities, he said. 