The China Tibetan Cultural Week opened Friday in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in celebration of the coming 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

The cultural week will feature exhibitions of Tibetan cultural relics, religious rituals conducted by about ten living Buddhas and performances of Tibetan songs and dances.

A number of senior officials from the central government sent letters of congratulations, including Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Raidi, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), and Liu Yandong, head of the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

The excellent traditional Tibetan culture is a resplendent pearl in China's folk cultural treasure-house, as well as China's invaluable spiritual fortunes, and it is the joint responsibility for the Chinese at home and abroad to inherit and carry forward the excellent traditional Tibetan culture, read the letter from Jia Qinglin.

The Cultural Week will help people in Hong Kong know more about Tibetan traditional culture and the glamour of the snow-covered region and promote the exchanges and cooperation between the two regions in various aspects, read the letter from Raidi.

The activity will display the glamour of the snow-covered pearl, Tibet, to Hong Kong, the oriental pearl, and provide a rare chance for Hong Kong people to know more about the motherland's splendid culture and a stage for Tibet to display its unique charm in the metropolis, read the letter from Liu Yandong.

Tung Chee-hwa, vice chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, Gao Siren, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, and Elsie Leung Oi-sie, secretary for justice of the HKSAR government, also attended the opening ceremony.

The cultural week is jointly sponsored by the Information Office of the State Council, the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, and the people's government of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

(Xinhua News Agency July 15, 2005)