"I hope that all who visit this exhibition will see beauty, creativity and friendship," said Zhou Wenzhong, Chinese ambassador to the United States, at the exhibition's opening ceremony at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

Like other parts of the country, China's West Region has witnessed rapid economic development in recent years and the Chinese government's West Development Strategy promises an even brighter future, he said.

The photos on show will open a window to American viewers and bring the region closer to them, said the Chinese ambassador.

The month-long event, named "China's West: Great Land in The Perspective of World Photographers," showcases over 80 pieces selected from half a million photos shot by some 200 Chinese and Western photographers in 2005 and 2006, featuring the dramatic landscapes, customs, lifestyles and cultures in China's West Region.

Woodrow Wilson Center President Lee Hamilton said the center is "excited to help further a deeper understanding of China's West among the scholarly, policy and the public communities of Washington."

The center's vice chairman, David Metzner, told Xinhua that there's similarity between the western regions of China and the United States.

He thought it could be a spiritual common ground for the Chinese and the Americans.

The exhibition is co-sponsored by the Chinese State Council's Information Office, the Chinese Embassy in the United States and the Woodrow Wilson Center, a well-known Washington think-tank.