Discover China: The highway that leads Tibet to prosperity

Source: Xinhua| 2019-06-28 14:30:30|Editor: Yang Yi
Video PlayerClose

LHASA/CHENGDU, June 28 (Xinhua) -- There is no road as unique as the one connecting southwest China's Sichuan Province and the Tibet Autonomous Region in the history of the country, even the world.

The 2,416-km highway meanders through 13 snow-covered mountains over 4,000 meters high, crosses a dozen raging rivers, traverses eight world-class fault belts and countless swamps, permafrost areas, earthquake zones, landslide areas, glaciers and primeval forests.

In 1950, about 110,000 people were summoned to build the road, with high morale but crude equipment. Over 4,000 had sacrificed their lives when the road was completed in 1954, ending the history of no modern highways in Tibet.

The Sichuan-Tibet highway serves as the artery linking the plateau region and China's inland areas, significantly alleviating the material shortage of Tibet over the past decades.

THOROUGHFARE INTO A FORBIDDEN ZONE

Due to the extreme plateau climate and frequent natural disasters, the highway is plagued by snowstorms, landslides, avalanches and earthquakes all year around, which is why it is called an "encyclopedia of highway distress."

Qi Quanliang was a bus driver on the highway for 28 years before he retired in 2017.

When he began working as a driver for the Nyingchi city passenger transport company in the early 1990s, it usually took him an entire day to arrive in Lhasa some 400 km away.

"The roads were either paved by dirt or small stones, which made the bus very bumpy and prone to bursting tires. Sometimes we had to spend the night in the middle of nowhere," he recalled.

In 2002, a part of the roadbed was damaged by landslides when he was on the way to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan. The passengers had to get off the bus and walk along the damaged road while he drove the bus through a temporary path nearby. When the bus was slowly moving on the path, the road underneath it began to sink, and a rear wheel suddenly had nothing to hold it.

Passengers shouted and asked him to stop the bus. But with years of experience, Qi throttled up the engine immediately and arrived at the other end of the damaged road just before the temporary path collapsed into the river over 100 meters off the cliff.

"I had to smoke almost three packs of cigarettes every day to refresh myself when I was driving," he said, adding that there were always repair tools and food on the bus, even a pressure cooker in case he had to make meals.

Over the past 65 years, the central and local governments have invested heavily to lift the highway's traffic capacity and safety. Besides more tunnels and bridges, almost all sections of the highway have been widened and asphalted.

"Only veteran drivers dared to challenge the highway in my time. But today, even a fresh hand is not afraid of it," Qi said.

EXPRESSWAY TO FORTUNE

As road conditions improve, traffic jams are now common, and most often they are not caused by bad weather or geological hazards. There are simply too many vehicles, cyclists and hikers.

The Sichuan-Tibet region boasts one of the world's densest cultures and landscapes. Some world-class sceneries, such as the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, Midui Glacier and the Namcha Barwa Peak are by the roadside. In 2005, it was chosen as "China's most beautiful highway" by the Chinese National Geography magazine.

Last year, Nyingchi alone hosted over 3 million self-driving travelers. Family inns, restaurants, shops and tourism services have flourished, generating incomes for Tibetans who have been farmers and herders for generations. Through interactions with tourists, they have become more open and embrace modern life.

Tashigang, located next to the highway, is among Tibet's first group of villages to have a finger in tourism. Of the 68 households in the village, 54 are running home inns. The village rid itself of poverty in 2016.

Last year Tashigang received 75,000 tourists, generating tourism revenue of more than 4 million yuan (about 580,000 U.S. dollars).

Yangzom, 39, is a single mother of two children and the owner of two strawberry greenhouses near Lhasa. Thanks to the smooth highway, those who live on the roof of the world are able to buy fresh and perfect-looking strawberries.

"Compared with highland barley, I earn much more from selling strawberries," she said, adding that a kilo of strawberries sells for 60 to 80 yuan. She also opens her greenhouse to the public, with the price of self-picked strawberries set at 100 yuan per kilo.

Last year, the two greenhouses brought the family nearly 80,000 yuan.

Allowing full play to local specialties, and with special funding from local governments, industrial towns of mushrooms, cherries, traditional Tibetan medicine and tourism towns featuring hot springs, glaciers or trekking have been developed over the past decades.

Sichuan's Yajiang County is not very well known in China, but its matsutake has made it famous overseas. The business of matsutake is like a race against time -- the precious mushroom's flavor and price fade away with every ticking second.

Yajing has the perfect natural conditions for matsutake but long suffered from traffic bottleneck until the upgrading of the highway.

"Villagers go up the mountains to collect matsutake before dawn and send them to our plant for simple processing in the afternoon. It only takes six hours for the fresh matsutake to reach the airport in Chengdu, from where it is shipped to Beijing, Shanghai and overseas markets such as Japan and the Republic of Korea," said Li Hu, head of the matsutake park in Yajiang.

GATEWAY TO FUTURE

Besides the Sichuan-Tibet highway, three other highways starting from Qinghai, Yunnan and Xinjiang have been built and upgraded over the past decades due to the developmental need of Tibet.

An expressway linking Sichuan and Tibet is also underway, with several sections already open to traffic. The Sichuan-Tibet railway, with an investment of 270 billion yuan, is under construction as well.

All the projects would be unthinkable without the Sichuan-Tibet highway.

"The new railway will link Tibet, an important gateway to South Asia, with the developed regions in eastern and central China," said Li Jian, an associate research fellow at China Tibetology Research Center.

"As the economic tie between Tibet and inland provinces is getting closer, the increasingly modernized plateau region is poised to embrace the world," he said.

KEY WORDS:
EXPLORE XINHUANET
010020070750000000000000011100001381814871
彩神彩票 大发app 凤凰彩票app 乐发iv游戏平台 凤凰彩票大厅 乐发彩票 乐发彩票app下载 大发彩票 乐发v官网 乐发lll 乐发lv入口 乐发iv首页 乐发ll登录 凤凰彩票大厅 乐发官网 乐发ii下载入口 乐发ll 乐发v平台 乐发v官网 乐发lll 乐发lv入口 乐发iv首页 乐发ll登录 乐发lv 乐发lll安装 乐发lv 乐发登录入口 乐发iv游戏平台 凤凰彩票登录 网信彩票 彩神 彩神彩票官方网站 彩神彩票官网首页 彩神官方app下载安卓版 凤凰彩票登录 彩神v3 凤凰彩票app下载 彩神官方app下载安卓版 网信快三 一分快3 快三彩票购彩平台 凤凰彩票官方 快3官网 网信彩票 快3app 网信彩票平台 百姓彩票平台 网信平台官网 快3app下载 百姓彩票 每日彩票 快3app 百姓彩票 每日彩票 快3app 百姓彩票平台 幸运5分彩快3 快3彩票app下载 百姓彩票网站网址 大发10分PK10 快3下载 网信彩票平台 网信平台官网 快3彩票官网app 凤凰彩票官方 彩神彩票 大发10分PK10 彩神v3 大发彩票app下载 百姓彩票网站网址 彩神购彩平台 每日彩票 官方正规快三彩票平台 彩神彩票购彩平台 百姓彩票 凤凰彩票购彩平台 凤凰彩票app下载 彩神官方app下载安卓版 网信快三 一分快3 快三彩票购彩平台 凤凰彩票官方 彩神彩票 大发10分PK10 彩神v3 凤凰彩票登录 乐发lv 乐发∨Il 百姓彩票网站网址 乐发彩票 乐发彩票官方网站 乐发lll安装 百姓彩票网站网址 凤凰彩票app下载 大发10分PK10 乐发2 乐发app 凤凰彩票 大发彩票app 乐发登录入口 乐发ll登录 乐发v官网 乐发官网 大发彩票app下载 凤凰彩票购彩平台 彩神彩票 官方正规快三彩票平台 一分快3 百姓彩票网站网址 凤凰彩票app下载 大发10分PK10 乐发2 乐发app 凤凰彩票 大发彩票app 乐发登录入口 乐发ll登录 乐发v官网 乐发官网 大发彩票app下载 凤凰彩票购彩平台 彩神彩票 官方正规快三彩票平台 1分快三平台 百姓彩票平台 凤凰彩票登录 幸运5分彩快3 彩神 乐发彩票 乐发 大发彩票 乐发iv游戏平台 乐发lv 乐发lll 乐发ii下载入口 乐发彩票官方网站 凤凰彩票官方网站 凤凰快3 彩神彩票官网首页 1分快三平台 百姓彩票平台 凤凰彩票登录 幸运5分彩快3 彩神 乐发彩票 乐发 大发彩票 乐发iv游戏平台 乐发lv 凤凰彩票app 乐发app 网信彩票平台 网信彩票平台 乐发iv游戏平台 凤凰彩票app 乐发lv 乐发彩票app下载 凤凰彩票app 网信彩票平台 乐发彩票app下载 乐发lv 乐发app 大发彩票安卓下载 大发彩票安卓下载 大发彩票 乐发彩票app下载 网信彩票平台 乐发iv游戏平台 彩神彩票 乐发彩票中心 极速快3彩票平台 人人快三凤凰 大发彩票app 大发彩票大全 乐发彩票 彩神彩票官方网站 乐发app 酷天堂彩票平台 凤凰彩票app下载 凤凰彩票大厅 凤凰彩票app 极速快3彩票平台 凤凰彩票 凤凰快3 乐发ll官网 乐发彩票中心 正规快三送彩金平台 凤凰彩票官方 乐发ll 乐发 网信彩票 彩神彩票 彩神彩票官方网站 大发彩票app 网信彩票用户 百姓快三 百姓彩票平台 乐发lv 乐发彩票app下载 彩信平台 网信彩票 乐发彩票官方网站 乐发∨Il 人人快三凤凰 凤凰彩票 凤凰快3 乐发ll官网 乐发彩票中心 正规快三送彩金平台 凤凰彩票官方 乐发ll 乐发 网信彩票 彩神彩票 彩神彩票官方网站 人人快三凤凰 乐发彩票 彩神彩票 乐发iv游戏平台 乐发彩票 大发彩票中心 凤凰彩票登录 凤凰彩票app 彩神彩票 大发彩票 乐发ll 大发彩票app 凤凰快3 凤凰彩票 彩神彩票 乐发ll 凤凰彩票 乐发lll 凤凰彩票大厅 网信彩票 彩神彩票 乐发lv 快盈彩票 乐发彩票官方网站 盈彩网投资平台 大发官网 一分时时彩 乐发lv 快3平台 凤凰快3 乐发ll 全民彩票 乐发彩票官方网站 百姓彩票 乐发彩票 大发彩票 极速快3 乐发app 大发官网 乐发lll 快3平台 凤凰快3 乐发ll 全民彩票 乐发彩票官方网站 百姓彩票 乐发彩票 大发彩票 极速快3 乐发app 彩神iv 大发彩票app 大小单双平台 一分pk10 乐发lv 快盈彩票 乐发官网 快彩彩票 百姓彩票 凤凰彩票大厅 网信彩票 乐发彩票中心 网信快3 乐发 彩神xl 三分快3 大发彩票 大发官网 乐发lll 快3平台 凤凰快3 乐发ll 全民彩票 乐发彩票官方网站 百姓彩票 乐发彩票 乐发彩票官方网站 大发彩票 乐发 分分快3 彩神vl 55世纪 55世纪 凤凰快3 乐发彩票 乐发lv welcome凤凰彩票 乐发ll 1分快3 彩神 彩神ll 1分快3官网 1分快3的平台 welcome凤凰彩票 三分快3 彩神x 彩神vl 凤凰彩票 彩神xl 大发彩票 凤凰彩票大厅 乐发官网 乐发ll 乐发lll 乐发lv 大发彩票app 大发彩票 乐发 乐发彩票 乐发彩票中心 凤凰快3 乐发彩票 彩神xl 腾讯快3 大发彩票 彩神xl 大发彩票 乐发彩票 大发彩票app 快3平台 乐发 1分快3 乐发彩票 彩神x 凤凰快3 彩神xl 彩吧助手 大发彩票app 快3平台 大发排列3 彩神iv 彩神vl 乐发IV 彩神x 一分pk10 大发排列3 乐发lv 快3彩票 乐发app下载 三分快3 快三平台助手 乐发彩票ll 彩神iv 乐发lll下载 盈彩网投资平台 乐发Ⅲ 一分pk10 凤凰彩票 乐发Vll 大发官网 乐发ll 大发彩票 乐发1 凤凰快3 彩神vl 乐发lx 百姓彩票 乐发VI 彩神x 乐发IV 极速快3 乐发 凤凰快3 网信快3 乐发lv 快3彩票 乐发app下载 三分快3 快三平台助手 乐发彩票ll 彩神iv 乐发lll下载 盈彩网投资平台 乐发Ⅲ 凤凰彩票大厅 乐发lv 乐发lv 乐发lv 凤凰彩票 大发彩票 大发彩票 凤凰彩票 乐发lv 凤凰彩票 凤凰彩票 乐发lv 乐发ll 凤凰彩票app下载 凤凰彩票 凤凰彩票 乐发lv 乐发ll 凤凰彩票app下载 凤凰彩票 凤凰彩票 乐发lv 彩神x 乐发 乐发ll 极速快3 乐发lv 乐发彩票中心 快3彩票 凤凰彩票大厅 彩神x 凤凰彩票app 分分快3 网信彩票 网盟彩票 凤凰彩票 百姓彩票 乐发 快彩彩票 乐发彩票 快3平台 百姓彩票 大小单双平台 凤凰快3 彩神xl 一分pk10 乐发lv 三分快3 大发彩票 乐发彩票 快3平台 百姓彩票 大小单双平台 凤凰快3 彩神xl 一分pk10 乐发lv 三分快3 大发彩票 极速快3 乐发ll 网信彩票 乐发lv 全民彩票 凤凰彩票app下载 快盈彩票 大发彩票app 大发官网 凤凰彩票 彩神iv 大发彩票 网信快3 凤凰彩票 百姓彩票