Tourism development pays off for Tibetan villagers

LHASA－Summer is hot in most parts of China but Nagchu, a city that sits at an altitude of more than 4,500 meters in the Tibet autonomous region, sees temperatures drop to as low as 3 C.

The chilly climate has made a local hot spring a popular destination for many, including Karma Dorje, who is from Nagchu but works in the regional capital, Lhasa, where he paints thangka.

"Bathing in the hot water improves blood circulation. The pimples on my face have gone," said the 26-year-old, who visits the hot spring every three days whenever he returns home.

By utilizing natural and cultural resources, many areas in Tibet have developed rural tourism, bringing tourists as well as additional income to farmers and herders, which helps boost rural vitalization.

With a water temperature of around 60 C, the geothermal hot spring in Tonglung village, in Nagchu's Nyanrong county, is one of the highest in the world.

The village has established a cooperative to run the hot spring, said Chophe, the village head. The cooperative paid 12,000 yuan ($1,850) to each of its 75 households last year as a dividend. Thirty-five villagers, some of whom used to live in poverty, work for the cooperative.

"With my job at my doorstep, I can finally take care of my ailing mother at home," said Chimed Wangmo, 20, who used to work in urban Nagchu. By working as a cashier and cleaner for the cooperative, she earns 2,500 yuan a month.

Optimistic about tourism's prospects, Tonglung is expanding the hot spring cooperative, with three more pools being built. The village plans to turn the resort into a comprehensive venue featuring tourist attractions, recreation and accommodation to generate more income for villagers.

Nyima Degyi, deputy head of Nyanrong county, said a section of national highway that passes by the county is being built.

"The section linking Zadoi county, Qinghai province, and Nagchu, will definitely bring more tourists here," she said.

In Tashi Chodan, a community known for Tibetan opera in the city of Lhokha, a troupe of more than 30 performers puts on shows for tour groups from across the country every day.

Tibetan opera combines singing, acting, dancing and literature, and has a history of over 600 years. It is regarded as a "living fossil" of Tibetan culture and was included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009.

"At the peak season, we have six to seven performances a day. The monthly income can be more than 2,000 yuan," said 38-year-old troupe member Purbu Kelsang, a local farmer.

To accommodate the tour groups, 58 households in the village run homestays. Dawa, 63, no longer has to toil at construction sites in cities as he earns more than 30,000 yuan a year from his eight-bed homestay. He gives his guests butter tea and plays the flute for them, which they appreciate.

"They like my home a lot. Some of them call when they return home, promising that they will come every year," he said, adding that guests have come from provinces including Anhui, Hubei and Hunan.

The per capita net income of the community reached 24,000 yuan last year, up 13.1 percent year-on-year.

Wang Huadong, Lhokha's executive vice-mayor, said the city government plans to find a company to help the community develop rural tourism more professionally.

"The third-party company may be responsible for leasing nearby farmland from villagers, and turn the barley plots into galsang flower fields to attract more tourists," he said.

Rural tourism in Tibet had created, directly or indirectly, 86,000 jobs for local farmers and herdsmen by last year, boosting their average annual incomes by 4,300 yuan.

Xinhua