More than 700 Chinese Tibetan compatriots living in Nepal celebrated their traditional New Year together with staff of the Chinese Embassy to Nepal here Saturday.

An 18-member Chinese Tibetan artist troop arrived here on Thursday from Tibet and gave performance at the function.

"Chinese embassy is the home of all Chinese people living abroad, and we would like to express our sincere wishes to everybody here to have a wonderful future," Sun Heping, Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, said at the New Year Reception held at Everest Hotel in Kathmandu.

Since China's Tibet Autonomous Region established 41 years ago, 2.7 million people living in the region have worked together to improve their living standard and maintain the unification of China, Sun noted.

The political situation in the region has been stable and its economy kept growing by 12 percent over past 11 year. The Tibetan traditional culture has been effectively protected and the Tibetan people have enjoyed religious freedom, he added.

According to the Tibetan calendar, a lunar calendar used by Tibetans, Feb. 28, 2006, is the beginning of the Year of Fire-Dog.

Source: Xinhua