The "2003 China Tibetan Culture Week" will be held in Thailand from December 4 to 18, the State Council Information Office announced Tuesday.

This will be the first time for China to feature Tibet in a large-scale cultural exchange activity in Thailand. A delegation, consisting of 69 people and led by Li Bing, vice-minister of the office, will go to Thailand.

The culture week will present the reality of today's Tibet to the Thai people through various cultural activities, said an official with the Information Office of the State Council.

Events to be staged throughout the week include a photo show, an exhibition of Tankas, the typical ancient silk paintings of Tibet, Tibetan song and dance performances, and a movie show.

A group of China's leading Tibetologists and living Buddhas from Tibet will also visit Thailand during the culture week for an exchange of views with experts and scholars there.

These activities are expected to introduce Tibet's traditional culture, religion and history, as well as the autonomous region's social and economic progress and the latest developments in Tibetology.

The culture week is sponsored jointly by the Information Office, the government of the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Chinese Embassy in Thailand.

China staged the event in Australia and New Zealand in 2001 and in Belgium and Canada in 2002.

(China Daily November 26, 2003)