BEIJING, July 2 China says in the year since its inauguration, the 1,215-mile railway to Tibet has carried about half of the 3 million tourists who have visited the region.
In a report from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, the official Xinhua news agency said the Qinghai-Tibet Railway has helped connect landlocked Tibet to the rest of country. The world's highest rail link runs between Lhasa and Xining, capital of the northwestern Qinghai Province.
"When rails rattle, the money comes in" the report quoted a Tibetan village resident as saying. "Before, we depended on the land for a living, but my people are working in construction, running home-style hotels, and some are driving cabs. They can earn about 2,000 Yuan (about $262) a month now, an unimaginable sum before."
"The railway has facilitated access for pilgrims and believers in and outside Tibet, and we are seeing a major increase rather than decline in the number of pilgrims," the report quoted the deputy director of the regional Buddhism association as saying.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
