Impressed by the customs and folk culture of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau displayed through artworks, audiences at the "Beauty of Tibet" painting exhibition series in Germany said they were longing for visiting Tibet, according to reporter with Xinhua.

"I am thinking of visiting the Plateau with my daughter in holiday," said Linda from Germany at the Hamburg exhibition of "Beauty of Tibet" painting works.

The Hamburg exhibition opened Friday, following its Berlin stop two days earlier also displays the attracting landscape, local customs and profound Tibetan culture with watercolor paintings, engravings and oil paintings, among which some are award-winners at the first "Beauty of Tibet" Painting Contest held by China Tibet Online in 2011 and others are sketches created by awarded artists of the event this year.

Among the audiences at the exhibition, many said they had been to China, but only a few said they had visited Tibet.

A 37-year-old novelist named Vincent said he had traveled to Southern China's costal city Shenzhen. Tibet is attracting to him and he hoped to visit the mysterious land to find the legend Shangri-La one day.

As for all the works exhibited, he liked the engraving named the Spirit of Nature most.

In his understanding, the bird in the picture implies freedom, the girl symbolizes beauty and the yak, diligence; all of the three together means harmony.

Spirit of Nature, engraving by Yang Shaotong [Photo/China Tibet Online]

At the exhibition, many artists were asked whether they had ever been to Tibet and whether their works were created based on imagination or spot sketch.

"They get their answers after we talked about the creations", said Jin Yongxiang, gold prize winner of the "Beauty of Tibet" Painting Contest who had been to Tibet for many times.

They want to buy our works after our talk and I am really encouraged to learn our paintings won recognition from local audiences, Jin added with a smile.

Ike Teshi from the Hamnburg Palace Art Center of Berlin expressed his appreciation of the oil painting Expectation, saying he hopes followed exchanges as well as such exhibitions can be held regularly in future.

Fan Xuan, general editor of Europe Times told the organizer that the exhibition provided a platform for German media and public to learn the real situations in Tibet.

Having been to Tibet twice, Mr. Fan said the infrastructure and people's life in Tibet he saw when he took train there as a jounalist long before improved a lot compared to what he saw eight years ago.

According to Fan Xuan, many Germans held the view that 'there is no religious freedom in Tibet' and 'traditional Tibetan culture is been oppressed' in the past as the result of the Dalai Lama's one-side speech. However, this exhibition provides a strong response towards those inflammatory speeches for the vivid pictures speak much louder than speeches.

Expectation, oil painting by Jiang Xincheng [Photo/China Tibet Online]

On the message pad, it reads many comments like "After visiting this impressing exhibition, I am longing for a travel to Tibet" and "I have been to Tibet before and this exhibition reminds me of many good memories" and so on.

This is the first time in history that China has held a Tibet-themed cultural exchange in Hamburg.

Jointly organized by Chinese Federation of Overseas Chinese, China Tibet Online, Shanghai Federation of Overseas Chinese, the Chinese Embassy in Germany and the General Consulate in Hamburg, according to the organizer, the exhibition will last for a month.