Chinese Billionaire Gives France Vacation To 6,500 Workers

Tiens CEO Li Jinyuan visits Nice, France, on Friday as part of a celebration weekend marking the 20th anniversary of his company. He was joined by 6,500 of his employees.

The billionaire chief executive of the Chinese conglomerate Tiens has given 6,500 of his best salespeople a vacation that started in Paris and ended with a parade on France's Cote d'Azur.

CEO Li Jinyuan said he was celebrating the company's 20th anniversary by rewarding his staff and aimed for the world record in spelling out a phrase in human bodies, according to the company's website.

As their vacation wound down on Friday, the employees on massed on the coastal promenade in Nice and, dressed in identical sky blue hats and T-shirts, spelled out the words "Tiens' dream is Nice in the Cote d'Azur," setting a world record for the longest human-made phrase visible from the sky, the company added.

Some 4,700 hotels rooms and 146 buses were booked for the lucky employees representing half of the company's staff , according to French media, which put the trip's cost at 13-20 million euros ($14.5-$22.3 million).

Jinyuan was greeted by France's foreign affairs minister, Laurent Fabius, mid-week in Paris.