An exhibition in Beijing telling Tibet's past and present, which is scheduled to end on July 25, will be extended indefinitely at the request of the public.

With 160 exhibits and more than 400 pictures, the exhibition, consists of two parts: the "History of Tibet and Feudal Serfdom in Old Tibet" and "New Tibet Changing with Each Passing Day."

Nearly 110,000 domestic and international visitors, were absorbed and some 2,500 messages were left, ever since the exhibition entitled "Tibet's Past and Present" debuted in the Cultural Palace of Nationalities in Beijing on April 30.

According to staff with the exhibition, visitors organized by schools, armies, government organs and other organizations, take up 40 per cent while the rest visit the exhibition voluntarily.

Basing on undeniable historical data, the exhibition tells a true Tibet which was once unfamiliar to the public, in different ways.

"In 1956, I and Chen Yi, escorted some urgent necessaries the central government allocated to Tibet. The tough roads made the cars' oil pipes leaking. For the best interest of Tibetans, who were in urgent need of the supplies, Chen required us to make all haste to reach the destination even if we had to fill the oil tanks continually all the way," an 80-year-old man said while recalling his memory.

"Chen told us that the central government will try its best to meet the desires of Tibetans," added the old man.

Such exhition was also held in some foreign countries in a drive to enable more foreigners to gain a better understand of Tibet.

The exhibition was hosted by the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, the State Council Information Office and Tibet Autonomous Region.