A photo exhibition collecting pictures of South Africa has opened in the east of Beijing. It's part of the country's promotional activities ahead of next year's World Cup.

The exhibition, titled "South Africa: Through the Lens of Chinese Photographers", opened to the rhythms of drum beats, played by African artists.

As a promotional activity ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which will be held from June to July next year, the South African Tourism Bureau invited ten well-known Chinese photographers to travel around South Africa and display the pictures they took.

Qi Ying, Staff Member, South Africa Tourism Bureau, said, "The two hundred and twenty pictures on display are from the ten photographers we invited to travel to South Africa. My favorite picture is behind me. It captures the morning scene of the Dragon Mountains. The scene captured in the photo is like an oil painting. In addition to widely-known tourist spots like Cape Town, Table Mountain and Sun City, everywhere in South Africa, there is the beauty of nature."