This is the first time for China to feature Tibet in large-scale cultural exchange activities in Europe and North America.

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji has extended his congratulations in a letter, calling the culture week a significant event for fostering cultural exchange between China, Belgium and Canada, which he said would surely promote friendship between the Chinese and the Belgian and Canadian people.

Vice President of Belgium's Chamber of Representatives Robert Denis, Vice President of the European Parliament Joan Colom I Naval, Canadian Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson and Prime Minister Jean Chretien and other celebrities have also sent congratulatory messages.

The culture week will present the real Tibet to the Belgian and Canadian audiences through various cultural activities, said an official with the Information Office of the State Council.

Events to be staged throughout the week include a photo show, an exhibition of Thangkas, or the ancient silk paintings of Tibet, Tibetan song and dance performances, and a movie show.

A group of China's leading Tibetologists and living Buddhas from Tibet will also visit Belgium and Canada during the culture week to exchange views with experts and scholars there.

These activities are expected to introduce Tibet's traditional culture, religion and history, as well as the region's social and economic progress and the latest developments of Tibetology.

The culture week is jointly sponsored by the Chinese Association for Cultural Exchanges with Foreign Countries, the Association for Cultural Exchanges with Foreign Countries of the Tibet Autonomous Region, the Belgium-China Association, the Belgium-China Cultural Exchange Center, and the Society of Chinese Canadians.

The 2001 Tibetan Culture Week was staged in Australia and New Zealand.

(Xinhua News Agency September 2, 2002)