NEW DELHI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- V. Prakash, the secretary of All India Congress Committee, recalled his visit to China in 1998, saying the Chinese people, like Indians, are respectful, intelligent and hard working.

When attending the opening ceremony for the "Enchanting Sichuan -- Charming China" Photographic Exhibition held at the All India Fine Arts and Craft Society here, Prakash said activities like this will help India and China better understand each other with good will and combine their strength with their vast human and natural resources.

"One fifth of the people in the world are Chinese, and one sixth are Indians. We both have excellent culture. We should have no conflict, but combine our strength with vast human and natural resources," he said.

The photographic exhibition, as part of the "Experience China - Sichuan Week in India", is sponsored by the Chinese government and India's International Unity foundation. It is displaying 90 pictures reflecting the social, economic, cultural and natural diversities of the southwestern China's province, including the re- emerging Wenchuan, the city destroyed by a massive earthquake in 2008.

The on-going Experience China Week is also the first of its kind in India. Organizers of the activities said that the week- long cultural and economic interactions would help people of the two countries increase friendship, understanding and culturally mutual recognition. Meanwhile, this is also contributing to the 2011 China-India Exchange Year.

Madame Rajni Abbi, the newly elected mayor of Delhi, told reporters that after seeing these pictures, she cannot wait to visit China.

Abbi said that she is impressed by the colorful and ethnically flavored clothes of local Chinese women, demonstrating cultural diversity of Sichuan.

"Delhi is also a city of culture diversity and it can learn from Chinese cities in terms of many things, including how to settle immigrant population," she said.

While feeling regret for the absence of panda in the Delhi Zoo, Abbi said it is better for the precious animal to stay free in the forests of Sichuan, as the hot weather of Delhi is not good for them and by living in the air-con boxes they will get sick.

The Governor of Sichuan province Jiang Jufeng said at the opening ceremony of the exhibition that the people of Sichuan, who have long history of friendly and cultural exchanges with India, will never forget that the Indian government and people donated money and relief materials to them after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.

Bhisham Narain Singh, chairman of the International Unity foundation, said these photos reminded him of a heart-warming anecdote which happened during his visit to the countryside of Sichuan several years ago.

He said that Indians like to have honey put in their breakfast tea, so his delegation members asked the host for honey one morning in a hotel in a rural area of Sichuan. The host said honey not available in the hotel, but promised to bring it in 10 minutes.

"Ten minutes later, a bottle of honey was brought to our table. It was from a nearby bee farm and the honey was so fresh. I can still memorize the sweetness of the honey, which represents hospitality of the Chinese people," he said.