"On behalf of the 42 million residents in Yunnan Province, I sincerely wish that Macao will have a bright future, and that the people of Macao will live a happy life," said Linghu An, secretary of the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party at a party in the capital city on the eve of Macao's return to the motherland.

Local singers and dancers sang with passion for Macao's return.

Fujian Province in east China also celebrated in the provincial capital Fuzhou with photographs of Macao's folk customs today.

About 400 works from more than 160 overseas Chinese photographers were on show. It is the first time that such photos have been on exhibit in the mainland. They had previously been shown in Macao in September and in Hong Kong this year during the National Day holiday.