Tourism and Education Transform the Lives of Tibetans

By staff reporter MICHAEL ZáRATE

PEMA Pingzeng， a 37-year-old farmer living in Xiga Monba Village， Nyingchi City in Tibet Autonomous Region， welcomed us with a broad smile. His fiveyear-old daughter， with a lot of maturity and also being circumspect， insisted that we try yak milk， a typical Tibetan drink which they had made themselves. After drinking four glasses， Pema began relating to us his life story and how the last few years had brought so much unexpected improvement to his family. Today， not only is his five-year-old girl attending kindergarten， but his 11-year-old daughter can already begin thinking about going to university. “In the past， transportation and roads here were very bad，” he recalled， but now he is able to better market the products of his 0.6-hectare farmland thanks to the improvement of the rural infrastructure.

The case of Pema reflects the situation of many villages in Tibet. According to official statistics， the poverty rate in Tibet has dropped from 25.2 percent in 2015 to 5.6 percent this June， while during the same period， the number of poor people decreased from 590，000 to 150，000. The development of the region has been remarkable， but the challenge is even greater， as China hopes to eradicate absolute poverty throughout the region this year， according to the speech given by Luo Bu， a researcher at the Chinese Society for Human Rights Studies， during the 41st session of the UN Human Rights Council.

The Role of Tourism

In Ngari， the least populated prefecture in Tibet， 16，212 residents have been brought out of poverty during the past three years， thanks to the implementation of 88 poverty reduction projects with a total investment of RMB 1.5 billion. Some of those projects have focused on strengthening tourism， whose boom has helped 2，520 locals move beyond poverty. It should be noted that Ngari has an average elevation of 4，500 meters above sea level， which poses a major obstacle to the application of any social and welfare policy.

Tourism is also being developed in other areas of Tibet and proving to be an effective tool in reducing poverty. Tashigang Village in Lulang Town of Bayi District， Nyingchi City， is a case in point. The village has 327 people in 66 families. With its uniquely beautiful environment， convenient accessibility， and a long history， villagers have decided to make tourism a path to economic development thanks to the opening of family inns. In fact， they were the first to apply this model throughout Bayi District. Today， the village has 51 family hotels with more than 1，200 beds. In 2018， it received more than 75，000 tourists， with a tourism revenue of RMB 4.06 million.

“Lulang Town is a perfect place for tourism， because there is so much beautiful landscape to enjoy. I wanted to take advantage of it and thats why I decided to provide lodging in my house，”said 47-year-old Dawa， a father of three children. In 2012， he obtained a bank loan to open his family hotel， where one night costs about RMB 50. Dawa， which means “moon” in Tibetan， was previously devoted to animal husbandry and agriculture. His house， modest but cozy， is surrounded by green mountains and clear water giving meaning to that popular phrase that says， “In Lulang you will forget where you come from.” The town is also known as “the abode of the gods.”

Lulang has managed to stand out thanks to the project of International Tourist Village， which was officially launched on March 28， 2017， and has been supported by the prosperous province of Guangdong. With a total investment of RMB 3.8 billion， the project goes， in fact， beyond the field of tourism， since it also implies the development of infrastructure， building hotels （there are three five-star hotels in Lulang）， business centers， green spaces， and irrigation systems. Since 2016， more than one million tourists have visited Lulang， making this town play a decisive role in the development of Nyingchi and in the creation of a quality tourist route in southeastern Tibet.

The Power of Education

In order to achieve this years goal of eradicating absolute poverty in Tibet， on June 17， Chinese authorities unveiled a total of 202 projects， with total investment of RMB 21.5 billion. The initiative will cover a wide range of sectors， including employment， science and technology， relocation， education， and medical care.

Regarding education， the reporters of China Today had the opportunity to visit two of the most prestigious schools in the region： Nyingchi No. 2 Elementary School and Naqu No. 2 High School in Lhasa. The first one， according to a teacher named Cheng Xianchi， focuses on promoting childrens respect and care for the environment. The school has 1，800 students of Tibetan， Han， Monba， Hui， and Deng ethnic groups， who receive a bilingual education in Tibetan and standard Chinese. Along their school corridors， models which the children have built with their own hands， such as the Long March-7 rocket， the Tiangong-1 space lab， and the first Chinese passenger jetliner C919， among other milestones of Chinas scientific development， can be seen.

At No. 2 Naqu High School in Lhasa， we met Balmasherab， a 39-year-old English teacher. He is one of the 284 full-time teachers in the school. “Many farmers and shepherds who live in high altitude areas send their children to study here. The school plays an important role in the development of northern Tibet，” he says. Through the windows of one of the classrooms， we saw young students sitting in class learning about the political system of ancient Greece and Rome， while in another classroom， we heard students learning music written by Beethoven.

In line with the need to promote education in Tibet， on June 26， the Jack Ma Foundation， established by the founding namesake of the Alibaba Group who once was an English teacher as well， initiated a fund of at least RMB 100 million. The objective of the fund is to establish a teachers training center at the Lhasa Normal Junior College and provide subsidies to 800 normal school students， 1，400 teachers， and 1，000 principals in Tibet over the next decade.

The Importance of Tibet

The year 2019 marks the 60th anniversary of democratic reform in Tibet， and both tourism and education have become crucial sectors for the eradi- cation of absolute poverty throughout the region. According to figures given by Jiang Jianguo， deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee， Tibets GDP increased from RMB 170 million in 1959 to RMB 150 billion in 2018. Moreover， its population has grown from 1.2 million in the 1950s to 3.4 million today， while the life expectancy has increased from 35.5 years to 70.6 years. Jiang provided these figures during the 2019 Forum on the Development of Tibet held in Lhasa on June 14.

The sustainable development of Tibet is of the utmost importance for China and the world， being that it has a strategic regional role within the Belt and Road Initiative （BRI）. Historically， Tibet played a key role along the ancient Silk Road， and today it aims to be a relevant land corridor between China and the countries of South Asia， especially India， Bhutan， and Nepal.“Some significant steps have been taken in recent years，” said Vjaceslavs Dombrovskis， chairman of the Group of Cooperation Promotion toward China， Parliament of the Republic of Latvia.“In 2006， the Qinghai-Tibet Railway was put into operation and Tibets connectivity with Nepal has improved. Today， Tibet represents more than 90 percent of Chinas trade with Nepal.”

Tibet， likewise， can play a role in the BRI that other Chinese provinces cannot play. As Yawei Liu， director of the China Program at the Carter Center （USA）， pointed out， Tibet occupies an important position in the global arena for its people， religion， culture， and the fascination it arouses in the West. “The way in which Tibet is perceived in the Western world will have a profound impact on the international communitys perception of the BRI，” he concluded.