The "2010 China Tibetan Culture Week" ended here Thursday after giving Spaniards a glimpse into the mysterious Tibet.

The 10-day cultural event was the first of its kind held in Spain and featured traditional Tibetan paintings, colorful pictures, folk songs and dancing.

Visitors were impressed by the long history of Tibetan ethnic culture, unique local customs, the modern socioeconomic development of Tibet, and the happy and prosperous life that locals live today.

A part of the event is an exhibit at Madrid Readers' Club, where over 80 photos taken by Chinese and foreign photographers as well as 30 local Thangka paintings by Tibetan artists were on display, offering an insight into Tibet from the perspective of culture, religion, landscape, and modern life there.

In another key portion of the culture week, over 30 Tibetan artists performed folk songs and dances of distinctive Tibetan ethnic flavor, which received acclaims from the visitors. Many viewers said they simply could not get enough after the two-hour show.

The 10-day event also featured discussions between Tibetologists and specialists in traditional Tibetan medicine and the locals.

Tibet has made notable achievements in the past decades, and its development reflects the requirements of social advancement and the fundamental wishes of the Tibetan people, Chinese Tibetologist Pubu Cering told a seminar held during the Tibetan week.

He said Tibet's gross domestic product (GDP) has increased from 174 million RMB (26.24 million U.S. dollars) to 44.1 billion RMB (6.65 billion dollars) between 1959 and 2009.

Apart from its economic growth, Tibet has also made great progress in education, technology, medicine and cultural protection, the Tibetologist said.

Chinese specialists also introduced the traditional Tibetan medicine to the students of the European University of Madrid, telling them that the Tibet Autonomous Region now has a comprehensive healthcare system with 28 traditional Tibetan medicine hospitals and 1,536 traditional professionals in the that regard.

The "2010 China Tibetan Culture Week" was held in Madrid and Valencia, and was co-sponsored by China's State Council Information Office, the government of the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Chinese embassy in Spain.

The culture event will further strengthen the traditional friendship between the Chinese and Spanish peoples and expand bilateral friendly exchanges across the board, said Wang Chen, head of China's State Council Information Office, in a congratulatory message.

Spaniards, who are greatly interested in foreign cultures, found the Tibetan culture week attractive, Valencia's Deputy Mayor Alfonso Grau said at a meeting with Dong Yunhu, deputy director of China's State Council Information Office.

Dong, leading a delegation of over 60 artists and scholars from the Tibet Autonomous Region to participate in the culture week, said Tibet is a shining gem on China's diversified cultural map because of its cultural charm.

Tibet has witnessed rapid development over the past years in its modernization, and is an outstanding part of China's development miracle, he said.

In a congratulatory note sent to the event, Baima Chilin, chairman of the government of the Tibet Autonomous Region, said the Tibetan culture week would present an opportunity for Spaniards to understand Tibet and savor its shining culture, and would play an active role in enhancing the Spanish people's understanding of Tibet and deepen the friendship between the Spanish and Chinese peoples.