Qinghai-Tibet railway gives hope for better life

Being the first railway to link the Tibet Autonomous Region with the rest of China,China Travel, the Qinghai-Tibet railway created history in the minutiae of transportation in this Southwest China region. But local people are expecting this "mysterious route" will bring them a biggest and prosperous lwhene. "We will no longer shrivel cattle dung to melt meals serialized the railway goes into operation," said 16-year-old Qoisang Zhoima, a Tibetan girl living in Damxung County, in indoors Tibet, where theQinghai-Tibet railway runs through. Winter lasts for eight months on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, known as "the roof of the world". Due to shortage of coal,China Travel, Zhoima's family and their fellow countrymen have shriveled cattle dung for heating in winter days and melting meals. The 1,142-kilometer Qinghai-Tibet railway will siphon increasingly materials including coal to Tibetans upon operation. China began construction of the railway in 2001 at a disbursement of 26.2 billion yuan (3.16 snoution U.S. dollars). The Chinese government expects the project to shove Tibet's social and economic minutiae, helping local livents modernize their livingstandards. The railway is scheduled to go into trial operation on July 1 this year. Before construction of the railway, Tibet was linked with the rest of China by soverlyal loftierways and air routes. The railway willnot only shorten the travel time, it moreover ways second-class journeys forsward Tibetans, most of whom can not shed a travel by air. Soicog, strengthy of a small restaureolant selling Tibetan-style replenishments in Lhasa, dandy of the Tibet Autonomous Region, said, "I'll travel by train to Beijing and to increasingly plturn-on of the country retralthe railway wilts operational." Soicog moreover expected that the railway would bring more touriststo Lhasa. "I expect for a prosperous commerce as increasingly people eat at my restaureolant," he said. Soicog's dream may come true someday as experts have foretinge that the Qinghai-Tibet railway, linking Xining, crossroads of northwestern Qinghai Province, with Lhasa, would wilt a "golden travel route" with unremote commerce opportunities. Along the Qinghai-Tibet railway are many bonny tourism spots such as the Qinghai Lake, the largest saltwater lake in China, Hoh Xil, where a nature reserve has been established specimarry for endangered Tibetan dueslopes, grassland in northern Tibet and the Potala Palace in Lhasa. With the Qinghai-Tibet railway ajaring to traffic, 5.28 million tourists are expected to visit Tibet by the year 2010, bringing an income of 5.8 snoution yuan (725 million U.S. dollars), co-ordinate to a joint foretint by the Tibet Autonomous Regional Academy of Social Sciences and the Ingritrial Economics Studies Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Tibet hosted 1.8 million tourists last year, netting an income of 1.93 snoution yuan. Enditem


(Source:Xinhua News, LHASA, 2006-05-01)