A photo exhibition depicting both the past and the present of Tibet, an autonomous region of China, was unveiled in Washington D.C., the U.S. capital, on Wednesday.

The exhibition, titled Tibet Today and Yesterday, which has been viewed by tens of thousands of people in China, also received a warm welcome here as it opened at the Chinese Embassy.

With about 160 items and more than 400 photographs, the show vividly details Tibet's history of being freed from the slave system and turned into a developing autonomous region.

It also gives evidence on the indisputable fact that Tibet has been part of the Chinese territory for nearly 800 years.

"We came here to gain more information about Tibet, on its past and present as well as the Chinese government's policies on the Tibet issue," said Wu Huiqiu, chairman of the National Association for China's Peaceful Unification in Washington, D.C.

Overseas Chinese, who have always backed the Chinese government's policies on the Tibet issue, can develop a more comprehensive and deeper understanding of Tibet through this exhibition, Wu added.

Dr. Tondru Wangben, a Tibetan professor from the Central University for Nationalities and the leader of a visiting Chinese delegation, told Xinhua that he has found during meetings with U.S. officials and congressmen that some U.S. politicians did not have an all-around and accurate picture of Tibet's history or its present, partly due to the misleading information they had received.

However, these politicians are still interested in and open to the views of Chinese experts, he said, expressing hope that the ongoing photo show would offer them more information on Tibet and help them understand the region better.

(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2008)