A ceremony celebrating Tibet's first Serfs Emancipation Day started at 10 am Saturday at the square in front of the Potala Palace in Tibet autonomous region.

The meeting was presided over in both Tibetan and Mandarin languages by Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the regional government of Tibet who was dressed in a traditional Tibetan robe. It was attended by about 13,280 people.

The Tibet autonomous region legislature designated March 28 as the annual Serfs Emancipation Day to mark the release of about one million serfs from slavery in Tibet 50 years ago.