A photo exhibition featuring the 80th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has attracted more than 1.2 million visitors since its opening on June 20.

The exhibition, originally planned to close on July 20, was prolonged for six more days due to the increasing number of visitors. And today, it was handed over by its sponsors to the China Revolutionary Museum in Beijing to continue, Thursday's People's Daily reports.

Senior Chinese leaders Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, Zhu Rongji, Li Ruihuan, Hu Jintao, Wei Jianxing and Li Lanqing visited the show.

The exhibition attracted a daily average of more than 30,000 visitors, according to this leading newspaper of China.

Through more than 1,500 pictures and over 400 exhibits, the exhibition vividly reflects the glorious course during which the CPC members made continuous advancements under the guidance of the three generations of collective leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin at the core, and the historic contributions the CPC has made to the greatrejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

The paper says that the 54 visitor's books at the exhibition venue are full of messages singing the greatness of the CPC and expressing the deep love for the CPC. The words like "Long live the CPC! Long live China!" constituted a major part of the messages left over by visitors.

(Eastday.com.cn 07/26/2001)