Villagers of the Tibetan ethnic group dance to celebrate the setting of the Serfs Emancipation Day in Banjorihunbo Village 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]

Villagers of the Tibetan ethnic group dance to celebrate the setting of the Serfs Emancipation Day in Banjorihunbo Village of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on January 19, 2009. [Xinhua]