A grand ceremony celebrating Tibet's first Serfs Emancipation Day started at 10 a.m. Saturday at the square in front of the Potala Palace in Tibet Autonomous Region.

Photo taken at 8:00 a.m. on March 28, 2009 shows the scene of celebration ceremony to mark the first Serfs Emancipation Day in front of Potala Palace in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. A grand celebration ceremony will be held here at 10:00 a.m. local time Saturday to mark the first Serfs Emancipation Day. [Purbu Zhaxi/Xinhua]?

The meeting was presided over in both Tibetan language and Mandarin by Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the regional government of Tibet who was dressed in a traditional Tibetan robe. It was attended by about 13,280 people.

(CCTV March 28, 2009)