An exhibition on the 70th anniversary of New China reflects its many first-time achievements, Li Yingxue reports.

An exhibition to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China is being held at the Beijing Exhibition Center.

The exhibition, which covers more than 155,000 square meters, shows the country's development since New China's founding in 1949. It looks at such areas as science, education, healthcare and diplomacy. It opened to the public on Sept 24 and will run through Dec 31.

Divided into five sections, the show presents the achievements and experiences of different walks of life in China through more than 1,700 photos, 180 videos and 650 objects, as well as more than 100 models and 40 re-creations of life scenes. Some of the country's "150 firsts", such as the first plane, the first television station, the first atomic bomb and the first freeway are also depicted.

For example, the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge opened to traffic in December 1968. It is the first domestically designed modern bridge of its kind over a river in China.

Mao Qingrong from Nanjing, Jiangsu province, stood before a photo of the bridge at the exhibition. The 71-year-old remembers the bridge was under construction when he was in junior high school. He often visited the site to see how the construction was going.