DHAKA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The first ever traditional Chinese painting exhibition, with 50 pieces paintings of tigers on show, began in Bengal Gallery in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka on Tuesday, attracting more than 200 people on the first day.

　　"The tigers are just like live tigers. I like these paintings so much," Parveen, a local journalist, told Xinhua. "I thought Chinese paintings of horses, birds and flowers are very famous. But today I know the tigers paintings are also very nice," she said.

　　The watercolor paintings were all painted by Chinese farmers from Wanggong Zhuang village in Minquan county of central China's Henan province.

　　Wanggong Zhuang is known as "Village of Tiger Painting in China," where about one third of all the inhabitants (mostly farmers originally) can draw tiger paintings.

　　The paintings in the exhibition cover different lifelike description of tigers, like romping and roaring tigers, baby tigers and tiger families.

　　"It's amazing... The tigers paintings by Chinese farmers show culture and tradition of China, which is an emerging tiger itself," said smiling Professor Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace laureate for contribution on microcredit in 2006, who cut the ribbon at theopening ceremony.

　　"These paintings are on show in accordance with the ongoing Beijing Olympic Games to show the Chinese culture, while Bangladesh's national animal is the Royal Bengal Tiger," Culture Counselor Liu Sanzhen of Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh told Xinhua.

　　"The tiger painting exhibition has set up friendship between tigers of the two countries," Nazir Hossain, a local tiger painter, said jokingly in the exhibition hall.

　　"At the same time, the friendship between the two countries will be deepened as we understand each other more," he said. Nazir's personal exhibition, also including tiger paintings, will be held later this month.

　　Yunus said, as such communications in culture and other sectors are enhanced, the relations between China and Bangladesh are getting closer and closer.

　　"We expect more exhibitions of not only traditional Chinese paintings but also the contemporary China paintings," said Atik, ateacher of Dhaka University Art Department.

　　The exhibition organized by the Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh will last till Aug. 19.