An exhibition with hundreds of precious cultural relics from Tibet's past and present opens Saturday at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities in downtown Beijing.

Co-sponsored by the United Front Work Department, the Information Office of the State Council, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission and the Tibet Autonomous Region government, the exhibition, which will run until August 30, is composed of three parts.

The first briefly reviews Tibet's history, examining the long, close relationship between the central government and successive Tibetan rulers.

The best-known footnote to this close relationship is the marriage between Tubo King Songtsan Gambo and Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) Princess Wencheng in AD 641.

The princess introduced many new techniques and Buddhist relics, enabling Tibet to enter a new development phase.

Today, life-sized statues of Songtsan Gambo and Princess Wencheng are still piously worshipped by Tibetan pilgrims to the Potala Palace.

In 1793, the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) gave a golden urn to the Jokhang Monastery of Lhasa for use in identifying boys with the reincarnated souls of the Dalai Lama or the Panchen Erdeni.

Another golden urn was later bestowed on the Yonghegong Lamasery of Beijing to determine the "soul boys" of Grand Living Buddhas in Mongolia.

For over 200 years, the tradition of drawing lots to determine soul boys of Living Buddhas has been accepted by both the central government and Tibetan Buddhist groups.

The second part of the exhibition reveals the strict class divisions in Tibet before 1959. Combining religion with politics, the existence of serfdom limited the social progress of Tibet.

The third part of the show emphasizes Tibet's speedy development in the past two decades. In 2000, Tibet achieved a gross domestic product of 11.7 billion yuan (US$1.42 billion), twice the figure in 1990 and 30 times that of 1951.

While a network of cities and towns centred on Lhasa has come into being, the protection of environmental and cultural heritage is attracting increasing investment and being given priority.

The Potala Palace and the Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa have been added to the list of world cultural heritage sites compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Important Tibetan literary works such as the Buddhist "Tripitaka" scriptures and the folk epic "King Gesar" are being published.

The pictures, relics and files chosen from the collection of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities are sure to have a strong impression on visitors.

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