An international photo exhibition featuring the life of ordinary Chinese people opened in Vienna on Monday.

More than 100 photographers from China and other countries contributed their works and the 150 photos on show were selected from a pool of thousands.

They reflected the social and economic development of China and the life, work, leisure and entertainment of ordinary people in addition to highlighting the 5,000-year Chinese civilization and the harmony among ethnic groups in China.

Li Yanfeng, vice director general of the State Council Information Office of China, said that with the world's focus on the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and Expo 2010 in Shanghai, the exhibition recorded the changes that were taking place in Chinese urban and rural life.

Franz Baumann, acting director general of the United Nations Office in Vienna, who visited the exhibition, said the photos reflected the diversity of Chinese history and culture.

The one-week exhibition is jointly sponsored by the State Council Information Office of China, the Chinese delegation and Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Vienna, as well as the United Nations Office in Vienna.

Tang Guoqiang, China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Vienna, UN officials and diplomats in Vienna attended the opening ceremony.

(Xinhua News Agency September 11, 2007)