Portrait of a womanWhen New York-based Raymond Watt came across an article on the BBC news website about a Chinese photography exhibition in the UK last November, he was shocked, to say the least"Today, Beijing is a vastly different平博中国官网 place and the early photographs presented a perspective on the city which had never been previously availableThe country, which gained independence from the United Kingdom in April 1961, remains one of the least developed in the worldIt has eight surgical operation rooms and 300 patient bedsThe Chinese Navy's hospital ship Peace平博中国官网 Ark arrives on Tuesday in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on an eight-day mission to deliver free medical services to 2,000 people in the West African nationThe visit marks the first time the ship has visited West Africa, Xinhua said