People perform traditional dances in Chamdo, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on Oct. 23, 2010. The celebration of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Chamdo was held in Chamdo Saturday. On Oct. 19, 1950, troops of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) marched into Chamdo Prefecture, which sits in the east of Tibet and borders Yunnan, Sichuan and Qinghai provinces, and raised a Chinese national flag there. The event was a precursor to the peaceful liberation of the entire Tibet in the following year. Chamdo Prefecture, with 640,000 people, reported nearly 5.8 billion yuan (872 million U.S. dollars) of GDP last year, 140 times the 1958 figure. The per capita net annual income of local farmers and herders averaged 3,144 yuan. (Xinhua/Gesang Dawa)