BISHKEK, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyzstan Friday installed a panel at the foot of Lenin Peak in memory of legendary mountaineers from Russia and China, journalist and former mountaineer Erkin Toraliev told Xinhua.
The first joint expedition team from China and the former Soviet Union climbed to the Lenin Peak in 1958, said Toraliev.
The former Kyrgyz climber said that in 2008, after 50 years, veteran Kyrgyz mountaineers climbed the Lenin Peak and erected three flags of Kyrgyzstan, Russia and China.
"And this year we installed a big panel (3 meters wide and 1.5 meters high) with the picture of these joint teams and flags of the three countries on the Lenin Peak as a sign of friendship between the peoples," said Toraliev.
"The Chinese team consisted of 17 people, and in their honor this year we plan to plant personal trees in memory of each member of the expedition,because they are legend for us," said Toraliev.
The panel is installed with financial support of local private entrepreneurs.
