China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) has begun collecting original and genuine photographs for an exhibition slated for October 1, the country's 60th founding anniversary.

People of all social sectors at both home and abroad can send no more than two photographs or photo series related to the country's cultural heritage to the administration before August 25, according to a notice posted on the Web site of the Ministry of Culture on Tuesay.

All pictures are required to be "original" and not published or contested in any kind of competition, it said, adding the works had to be "genuine" and any operation to affect the authenticity of the photos are strictly banned.

Developed photos and disks containing photo information should be sent to the administration and digital photos are to be forwarded to Sheyingzhan60@163.com in the format of jpeg with an image resolution no less than 300.

Participants are asked to use no more than 15 Chinese characters to describe their works and register their name, work place, address, postcode and contact information, according to the notice.

Photographs will be exhibited in Beijing in October and published on the China Cultural Relics News, a newspaper affiliated to SACH, said the notice.

Photos will be paid on acceptance, but the amount was not specified in the notice.

(Xinhua News Agency July 29, 2009)