People of the Tibetan ethnic group dance to celebrate the setting of the Serfs Emancipation Day in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on January 19, 2009. The People's Congress (legislature) of Tibet Autonomous Region endorsed a bill on Monday to designate March 28 as the Serfs Emancipation Day to mark the date on which about 1 million serfs in the region were freed 50 years ago. On March 28, 1959, China's central government announced it would dissolve the aristocratic local government of Tibet and replace it with a preparatory committee for establishing Tibet Autonomous Region. [Xinhua]

Two smiling women of the Tibetan ethnic group pose for a picture in front of the portrait of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on January 19, 2009. [Xinhua]