With the approval of the State Administration of Religious Affairs, construction of the Yunnan College of Buddhism started in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, Tuesday.

Upon completion, the college will be the only one in the world which opens courses on Buddhism in three languages: Chinese, Tibetan and Pali.

The college, to be built jointly by the provincial government and the provincial association of religious affairs, is located in Wenquan Town, 30 km away from downtown Kunming.

The first group of 100 students to be enrolled will come from across China when the college is opened in 2003.

Yunnan has more than 1,300 Buddhism temples and about 2 million people who are Buddhists, according to the provincial bureau of religious affairs.

(Xinhua 02/22/2001)