Village official in region, moved by history at memorial hall, is grateful for changes

Riga, an official in a Tibetan village, was both sad and pleased after a tour of the newly opened Tibet Serfs Emancipation Memorial Hall on Thursday, which was opened to mark the 60th anniversary of the emancipation of the region's serfs.

March 28 is Serf 's Emancipation Day, which coincides with the democratic reform movement in the Tibet autonomous region.

Sixty years ago, about 1 million serfs were freed when the feudal serf system ended in the region, accounting for 95 percent of the region's population, according to data from the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences.