A photo exhibition about Chinese space exploration opened to the public on Wednesday at the Beijing Planetarium, displaying nearly 100 pictures, the majority of which were taken by Chinese astronauts in space.

Most of the images were being shown in public for the first time.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Yang Liwei, deputy head of the China Manned Space Agency and the first Chinese astronaut in space, said: "We hope increasing numbers of people will pay more attention to our country's space industry, and even join us through this activity."

Zhang Yulin, deputy head of the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission, said Chinese footsteps to discover the universe would advance at an even more rapid pace with the whole nation's support and the efforts of all engineering staff, including astronauts.

The photos in the exhibition depict many little-known scenes in which Chinese astronauts are working, resting or doing something else - such as the first Chinese selfie in space taken by Yang Liwei in 2003, and other astronauts' weighing themselves and doing tai chi in Tiangong-1, the country's first space lab.

"I hope the exhibition will arouse children's interest in astronomy and our country's aerospace development," said Wang Feifei, of Jiangsu province, who viewed the exhibition with her son.

Jiang Chenglong contributed to this story.