An exhibition entitled "Tibet of China: Past and Present" opens at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities in Beijing on Wednesday, April 30, 2008.

Visitors check out photos on display at an exhibition entitled "Tibet of China: Past and Present," which opened at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities in Beijing on Wednesday, April 30, 2008.

Workers prepare for the opening of the exhibition "Tibet of China: Past and Present" at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities in Beijing on Tuesday, April 29, 2008.

An exhibition on Tibet history opened in Beijing on Wednesday, aiming to present visitors with a full landscape of the autonomous region's past and present through pictures and exhibits.

Yang Jing, State Ethnic Affairs Commission (SEAC) director, told the opening ceremony, "Tibet is an inalienable part of China and an important member of the big Chinese family; Tibet's old feudal serfdom system fundamentally robbed Tibetans of their human rights and prevented economic and social progress."

"Objects and pictures presented here are a forceful witness of the region's historical change."

The exhibition, "Tibet of China: Past and Present," features two parts: the History of Tibet and Feudal Serfdom in Old Tibet, and New Tibet Changing with Each Passing Day.

"From 160 objects and more than 400 pictures, the audience will see the backwardness and darkness of the old Tibet as well as the development and progress of the new Tibet," said a senior SEAC official.

The free exhibition is jointly sponsored by the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the State Council Information Office and the Tibet Autonomous Region. It is at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities through July 25.