Tibetans hang central leaders portraits ahead of New Year

The Tibet Autonomous Regional government on Sunday celebrated the Chinese lunar New Year by unveiling a gigantic portrait of central leaders, which were hung on the regional government building in Lhasa.

The images of the four-generation central leadership, represented by Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, were shown on one same portrait, with a size of 13.6 meters by 8.9 meters.

At an unveiling ceremony at 10 a.m. which was attended by 660 regional officials and residents, Padma Choling, chairman of the regional government, said that hanging the portrait expressed the heartfelt gratitude of Tibetans for the People's Republic of China (PRC) central government and the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The PRC national flags and similar portraits of the central leaders are widely displayed from Tibetan houses, temples, schools and government offices, while people in Tibet are celebrating the Chinese Spring Festival on Jan. 23 and the Tibetan New Year that begins in February.

"I feel grateful as the government now provides us clerical people medicare and aging insurance, which means we can fully devote ourselves to the study of Buddhism," said Dachung, a Tibetan monk who wrapped a hada, a white silk scarf representing good luck, around a portrait of the leaders in his dwelling.

The regional government has distributed more than 1 million PRC national flags and such portraits to places including temples, schools and rural households.

From Tibetnews