Highways on the Roof of the World (4)

The animals here are like the elves of nature and the Tibetans have retained a priceless cultural heritage. The Guge Kingdom Ruins in Ngari, a kingdom that existed for over 600 years following the Tubo Kingdom, are remote and mysterious. 300 years ago the kingdom declined and disappeared into the sand and today the ruins of its magnificent buildings are still a mystery in Tibet.

Tibet’s buildings are magnificent. The colored windows and white walls reflect each other under the blue sky, and the golden roofs glitter under the sun.

The water in the lakes rises and falls with the wind while the wheat moves back and forward in the breeze. In Tibet you can forget all your worries.

The sacred mount Kailash attracts large numbers of both domestic and foreign tourists. Kailash is the peak of the Gangdise mountain range and is called by Buddhists the center of the world. It is the palace of Siva in Hinduism.

For hundreds of years an endless stream pilgrims has traveled this road leading to the sacred mountain.

Roads make it possible not only for tourists to admire Tibet but also broadens the vision of the Tibetans. In Nyingchi Prefecture, there is a village called Kungcung on the side of the Sichuan-Tibet highway. In the Tibetan language “Kungcung” means “luxuriant fruit” in Tibetan. The village is full of ancient trees and many clear creeks flow through it so the village is something of a Shangri-La. As the village is close to the Sichuan-Tibet highway, the villagers have become rich by engaging in transport. this is the first village in Tibet where every household has a telephone, so locally it is called “telephone village.” As they now have good roads and many tourists, the villagers have begun to develop tourism by making use of their beautiful environment. ou Visitors here compete with the locals to see who is better at Kumbu archery.

The village has over 20 spots of ethnic cultural interest. If you like, you can dance the circle dance, a dance unique to Kumbu, with the locals. In this small mountain village, you can see mountain springs driving the prayer wheel and see the watermill, along with the stone Buddha statues and the six-character Buddhist scriptures of the Tubo Kingdom.

For 50 years, the Qinghai-Tibet highway has been regarded as the communications artery of Tibet and the highway has always been busy. As the need to develop Tibet increases, the government has started to build the Qinghai-Tibet railway line which will run side by side with the highway.

At the end of 2005, tracks will be laid in Lhasa making it even more convenient for Tibetans to travel and realize that they will have more opportunities for development. Highways and railway lines promote each other, are closely connected and develop side by side. Through this future railway line, goods and materials will be transported to Lhasa and other distribution centers, and they will then be distributed elsewhere through highways. This will promote the development of highways and reduce the cost of transporting products. Without the highway, it would be unimaginable to transport large equipment and spare parts to the construction site of the railway line. Tashi Jangco and his Tianlu company are determined to make Tibet more prosperous. This contingent of road builders has participated in the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet railway line. The herdsmen grazing their sheep in northern Tibet are full of hope because of the rapid progress of the railway construction. Tashi Jangco is proud of the part he has played in the construction of the railway line.

Earthshaking changes have taken place in Tibet over the last 50 years from the time Tibetan workers first built the Sichuan-Tibet highway to the time Tashi Jangco led his workers in building the Qinghai-Tibet railway line. The lives of the Tibetan people have undergone fundamental change.

Scaffolds stand under the blue sky, and excavators and trucks are roaring. The builders of the Qinghai-Tibet railway line have overcome the three major problems of oxygen deficiency, frozen soil on the plateau, and ecological sensitivity, and are carrying out a great undertaking. According to the government of the Tibet Autonomous Region, in the future the railway line will be extended in two directions. One will go from Lhasa to Nyingchi, Zhongdian and then to Kunming. The other is to go to Xigaze and then to the border. By that time there will be a complicated network of highways and railway lines throughout Tibet. This bright future started 50 years ago when shovels and picks were used to create the two highways. We should never forget the great role of the Sichuan-Tibet highway and the Qinghai-Tibet highway and we should still less forget those who built them.

The children at the childcare center of the Shannan Communication Bureau are free from worries when every day they can dance, sing, swim, exercise and read. They are leading a life entirely different from that of their elders. Roads have not only contributed to making the children here happy but more importantly have made it possible for them to realize their dreams.

These children may not know the moving stories about the events that occurred on the northern Tibet plateau and in the eastern Tibet valleys 50 years ago, and they may even come to take the roads for granted. Those who have devoted all their lives to Tibet’s communications won’t complain about the children’s ignorance because what they have done is precisely for the sake of the children; they wanted to see their children laughing today.

Every child at the childcare center has many dreams for the future. However, they know that to realize these dreams, they must study hard. And they are studying hard. They are reading so loud that perhaps their voices may even travel through the mountains to the hearts of their parents maintaining the roads. While the children can go home once a year during the summer vacation, they do miss their hardworking parents. They want to make their parents laugh with joy at their outstanding academic performance.

Nizhen’s mother doesn’t know her daughter will be coming home from the center for the vacation. She’s working on the road as usual.

The road is being extended beside not only the vehicles but also the road workers are speeding along the road. Such stories about the people of Tibet people will continue. They both laugh and shed tears for the sake of this road.

Editor:Xiang Jing  Source:CCTV.com