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National Endorsement for Building a Methane Supply System for TAR

In line with the endorsement by the Ministry of Agriculture in its 11th five-year plan for Tibetan rural areas, by 2010, the TAR is going to initiate methane supply centers in rural areas, from which a total of 59 counties (including 200 thousand households and 400 villages) will benefit.

A Prodigious Effort to Publish Ancient Tibetan Books and Records

A block-printed layout of the wellknown book “The Essences of the Lamp that Shows the Path to Enlightenment” (the 2nd and 3rd part) is going to be published by July of this year. This is a commentary monograph to Tsongkhapas book entitled “The Lamp that Shows the Path to Enlightenment”, written by Lozang Norbu, a famous Tibetan incarnation of Buddha, at the end of last century. In the last 20 years, the Ancient Publishing House of the TAR has published 75 volumes (over 8 million books) of classic ancient Tibetan language books and records.

Reproducing Over Forty Kinds of Thangka Painting Pigments from Minerals and Plants

Tenpa Rabtan, the expert on Thangka Studies in the Art College of Tibet University, recently led a cutting-edge study to successfully reproduce over 40 kinds of traditional Thangka pigments.

Gannan Wins an Award for “Ethnic Tourist Attraction Par Excellence in China”

The Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Gansu Province successfully bid for this citation by virtue of its abundant natural resources, rich and colorful ethnic cultural demonstrations, and its mysterious but unique Tibetan Buddhist practices.

Immense Achievement in the Translation and Editing of Tibetan Textbooks in China

To date, China has translated and edited a total of 2224 Tibetan language textbooks (about 268 million characters). These include 226 (28 million characters) new versions of textbooks specially designed for the nine-year compulsory education system and covering 22 different subjects.

Launching the 2nd Phase of the Project for the Preservation of Lhalu Natural Wetland

This project contains sub-projects for constructing water ditches for the wetland park, restoring the ecological environment, building a brake system to reduce flooding and improve water storage in Nyangtran.

The First Electricity Transmission System to be Installed

Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission launched a project to install an electricity transmission system in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Adopting a standard of 500 thousand volts, the first phase of the project is designed to transmit 6.5 billion kilowatts annually to Tibet.

The Qomolangma Mountaineering Museum is about to open

The museum, covering over 200 sq. meters on the campus of the Tibetan Mountaineering School, has a collection of over 260 valuable photographs and 300 other exhibition items.

Shigatse is about to Complete the Construction of 11,325 New Houses

This year Shigatse will accomplish its “comfortable housing project”. The annual target includes 1507 houses under the category of poverty relief, 5442 houses under the category of advancing the border region, 4333 renovations of houses for civilians, 43 houses under the category of re-settlement, and 180 new houses as village activity centers. In addition 59 village roads will be constructed.

300 University Undergraduates to Work as Village Administrators in Tibet

In 2008, Tibet employs 300 undergraduates from colleges and non-teaching universities to take on administrative posts in villages and on residential committees in rural area of Tibet. They are assigned to provide three years of service.

An extended Tourist Season for Bird Spotting in the Qinghai Lake

Every spring and summer, the islands full of birds in the Qinghai Lake attracts tens of thousands of birds and becomes a spectacular attraction for tourists. This year, due to the improvement of the peripheral environment of the Qinghai Lake, the birds have come from April to September, which provides a longer tourist season for tourists to view this fascinating phenomenon.

An Historic Discovery of Bon Religious Literature from the Tubo Kingdom

Religious practitioners in Tsomey of Lhoka Prefecture, TAR, accidentally discovered a collection of literary fragments and Buddhist sutras in a precious bottle while they were renovating the Bungpa stupa.

Tibet Builds its First Distribution Center for Publications

With a total investment of 18 million Yuan, this center is equipped with 560 thousand books in 50 thousand categories, newspapers, video products, and electronic products.

The Launch of Road Construction from Namtso to Palgon County

At the end of May, the construction of a total of 171 kilometers of road from Namtso to Palgon County (at an investment of 350 million Yuan) was begun. The project will be completed by October 2009.

Qinghai Builds a National Water Sports Training Center

The Chentsa Training Center is a national center. It is an ideal place for specializing in training for boat racing.

The Construction of Gunsa Airport in Ngari Completed by the Year 2010

Located at an elevation of 4227 meters, this airport is designed to provide for the transport of 120 million people by 2020.