2 | Friday, July 30, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | DAILY PAGE TWO

By Ma Yunfei in found that the religious beliefs of locals in have been no obstacle to achieving here are few places on Earth where economic prosperity. “I don’t think there’s humanity transcends the bounda- a disconnection or conflict between the ries of race and nationality, where ‘Roof of the world’ two,” he said. people can go beyond the human Last year, per capita disposable income perspectiveT and understand that they are at in Tibet was double the figure in 2010. one with the universe. Average per capita disposable income of is one such des- rural residents has seen double-digit tination. rises to new heights growth over the past 18 years, while that of This year marks the 70th anniversary of urban residents last year reached 41,156 the peaceful liberation of Tibet. On May 23, yuan, a year-on-year rise of 10 percent. 1951, the central government of the People’s Tibet makes far-reaching progress on many fronts Rein thought the most impressive part of Republic of China, then still in its infancy, the trip was seeing the rise of the middle signed an agreement with the local govern- class in Tibet, as a growing number of locals ment of Tibet on the peaceful liberation of have emerged from poverty. “When you have the region, helping the people of Tibet break a vibrant middle class, you have a vibrant, free from the fetters of imperialist invaders sustainable and successful society,” he said. for good. Dawa, deputy general manager of The Democratic reform in the late 1950s abol- Tibet Yougecang Enterprise, an incense ished theocracy and feudal serfdom in producer with fewer than 60 employees, Tibet. These significant changes, as noted in said it has received a 50 million yuan line late United States journalist Israel Epstein’s of credit from Agricultural Bank of China. 1983 book Tibet Transformed, “were pro- Having seen the implementation of Bei- foundly emancipatory, physically and men- jing’s policy supporting small businesses tally, for the overwhelming majority of and encouraging mass entrepreneurship Tibetans.” in Tibet, Rein and Blair were optimistic With strong support from the central gov- about the development of the region and ernment and the rest of China, and boosted the Chinese economy. by the efforts of people from ethnic groups However, Blair said finding a viable in the region, Tibet is catching up with other business model remains the greatest chal- parts of the country in terms of socioeco- lenge for Tibet, so that the region can ulti- nomic development. mately wean itself off support from the A new modern socialist Tibet that is unit- rest of the country. ed, prosperous, culturally advanced, harmo- nious and beautiful is taking shape, Great importance underpinned by sustained stability and rap- While Epstein wrote of a rekindled enthu- id development. siasm and passion for life among ordinary Xinhua News Agency’s China Chat show Tibetans since democratic reform, Rein and brings its international audience firsthand Blair observed a Tibet far removed from its experience of the lives of everyday Tibetans, portrayal in Western media. local socioeconomic development and the They saw the bilingual signs and soft- real face of the new Tibet, possibly one of the ware used by doctors to write out diagno- most misunderstood places in the world. ses for patients at the Tibetan Medicine Living in China for most of the past 24 years Hospital of Tibet Autonomous Region, as and first traveling to Tibet in 2001, Shaun United States entrepreneur Shaun Rein, left, Xinhua News Agency journalist Miao Xiaojuan, second left, and US economist well as students learning the Tibetan lan- Rein, founder and managing director of Chi- David Blair, right, talk with a farmer at his house in Nang county, Tibet autonomous region, on May 23 while Miao holds the guage at Lhasa Middle School. na Market Research Group, feared his return farmer’s son. xu yongzheng / xinhua “It was very clear that the government is to the region would be a journey back in time doing a pretty good job at protecting Tibet- to the Tibet of old, to an area left behind by the an culture and the Tibetan language,” Rein rest of the country. said. “Tibet was so poor when I visited it the first China attaches great importance to the time,” Rein said, recalling long bumpy jour- protection and development of traditional neys along winding dirt roads. Tibetan culture, with the study and use of the Tibetan language protected by law. The Pleasant surprise region now has 16 periodicals and 12 news- Before he returned to Tibet, Rein papers in the Tibetan language, and has planned for the worst and told his team published more than 40 million copies of members they would probably not be able 7,185 Tibetan-language books. In addition, to reach him due to a lack of access to the language is widely used in the health, phone signals or the internet. postal services, communications, trans- However, he was in for a pleasant sur- portation, finance, and science and tech- prise. Today, highways connect Lhasa, the nology sectors. region’s capital, to smaller cities, while Meanwhile, the population of Tibet has cellphone towers dot the landscape, pro- risen from 1.23 million in 1959 to 3.5 mil- viding impressive internet speeds. lion in 2019, with ethnic Tibetans account- Rein was amazed by the changes in ing for more than 90 percent of the region’s Tibet’s transportation sector over the past total. Last year, average life expectancy in 20 years, even if they paled in comparison Tibet reached a record high of 71.1, double to those witnessed by Epstein as he took a the figure in 1951. grinding 12-day trip by jeep and truck con- The disconnect between the region’s flour- voy from Chengdu, Sichuan province, to ishing cultural scene and its depiction in Lhasa in 1955. Western circles was described by Albert “Even that seemed wonderfully speedy Ettinger, a researcher of Tibet from Luxem- then,” Epstein wrote, recalling his first visit bourg, in his 2015 book Battleground Tibet to Tibet in his book. “For thousands of as “stories from wonderland.” These “tall years, the only transport had been by yak tales” seek to conflate unprecedented popu- or mule caravan — six months being con- lation growth with “genocide” and a cultural sidered a good time for the trip.” Left: Pilgrims circle Barkhor Street in Lhasa, Tibet, on May 19. Top right: A student from Lhasa Middle School sings Vagrant, a renaissance with “cultural genocide.” Since 1951, Tibet has gradually built a com- herdsmen’s song, on May 21. Right: Miao Xiaojuan, second left, and Shaun Rein, second right, are photographed with locals Wherever the China Chat Studio team prehensive transportation network compris- and tourists after dancing at a bonfire party in Lunang town. photos by Xu Yongzheng / xinhua went, young Tibetans appeared to be the ing highways, railways and air routes. most optimistic among the different seg- According to a white paper issued by the ments of society, thanks to the great advan- State Council Information Office in May, ces made in the quality of life for locals. 118,800 kilometers of highways have been At the Zam Hydropower Station on the built, providing access to all administra- Yarlung Zangbo River, the largest plant of tive villages in the region. Some 94 percent its kind in Tibet, the team witnessed the of towns and 76 percent of such villages balance struck between development and now have direct access to asphalt and con- environmental protection. crete roads. Liu Feng, who is in charge of operations Dong Gengyun, a Beijing official sent to at the hydropower plant, said it provides Lhasa on a three-year assignment to sup- 30 percent to 35 percent of Tibet’s energy port Tibet’s development, said building needs, saving about 400,000 metric tons of and repairing roads in the region can be diesel oil every year. In addition, hundreds extremely costly, and many of them are of millions of yuan has been spent to underused due to low population density ensure fish can safely bypass the facility in the more-remote areas. and swim back upstream. “But we have to do it, because we’re not “If people’s livelihoods are to be here for sightseeing, but to help develop improved, the region needs to have suffi- the local economy and improve people’s cient electricity,” Liu said. “People should livelihoods,” Dong said. not demonize the utilization of hydroelec- David Blair, vice-president and senior tric energy.” economist at the Center for China and Glo- A vehicle travels along a road in Tibet, where people’s lives have been improved and the population is rising. Xu Yongzheng / xinhua Since 1978, when China launched balization, which is based in Beijing, reform and opening-up, the Communist regards infrastructure spending as critical Party of China Central Committee has held because it allows people to run businesses. ernment invested 224 billion yuan (about innovators, building businesses and tak- seven national meetings on Tibet, making In Tibet, he saw people setting up home- $35 billion) on education in Tibet. The ing advantage of economic opportunities. major decisions and plans for the region. stays and even innovation centers. region has established a modern educa- Barkhor Street, which circles the China began providing “pairing-up sup- “In many remote areas of the United tional system which includes preschool, It was very clear that Jokhang Temple, a UNESCO World Heri- port” for Tibet in 1994. Central govern- States, you cannot get high-speed internet primary and middle schools, vocational the government is tage site and part of the historic Potala Pal- ment departments, provinces and either wireless or wired, and there’s no and technical schools, and higher learning ace, is the best-known pilgrim circuit in equivalent administrative units, along incentive to provide it,” Blair said, adding and special education institutions. doing a pretty good job Lhasa and is always packed with pilgrims with centrally administered State-owned that he was amazed by the “great 4G connec- Gong Xiaotang, Party secretary of Lhasa at protecting Tibetan from across the region. The faithful com- enterprises, offered assistance through tivity in a little village in the middle of Tibet.” No 2 Secondary Vocational School, said plete the circuit clockwise, spinning their 6,330 projects, representing total invest- Tibet has taken the lead nationally in pro- culture and the prayer wheels in the same direction. ment of 52.7 billion yuan by last year. A Modern school viding students with 15 years of publicly Tibetan language.” There are more than 1,700 sites for total of 9,682 outstanding officials were In old Tibet, there was not a single funded compulsory education. Tibetan Buddhist activities, with 46,000 selected and sent to help the region. school in the modern sense of the word. Students at the school have a wide varie- Shaun Rein, founder and manag- monks and nuns in the region, where tra- Rein said these policies show that the The illiteracy rate exceeded 95 percent and ty of courses to choose from, including ing director of China Market ditional religious activities are carried out entire country has been trying to progress Research Group there was a complete lack of understand- cookery, traditional Tibetan clothing and regularly in accordance with the law. and work together to build a strong China. ing of modern science and technology. medicine production, thangka painting Jorden, director of the Potala Palace “You don’t see in the US a wealthy state Founded in 1956 with only 20 to 30 stu- and other disciplines. It also teaches hotel administrative office, said large sums are like California sending some of its tax dents, Lhasa Middle School in the down- management, accounting, advertisement their futures.” spent annually by the government on reno- money to poor states like West Virginia,” town area of the city is the first modern design and drone operation. He was also captivated by a center in vating and maintaining the landmark to he said. “And that’s why they are falling and standard school of its kind in Tibet. Blair said: “I was impressed by the kids. Lunang, city, where primary ensure that pilgrims have a safe environ- further and further behind under the Tang Yong, the school’s principal, said, They were learning a skill that was going school students are taught to use comput- ment where they can practice their religion. income level.” “At present, we have 3,018 students, with to make them money, and they seem to ers and 3D printers. Blair said, “We saw that many people In comparison, Rein noted that China those from Tibet accounting for about 62 understand that at a very young age. I was “They’re creating a spirit of dynamism still retain their religious ideals, while at “doesn’t want to leave any areas behind”. percent.” Most of the students want to amazingly impressed by how much these in the young kids, and that’s going to pay the same time, they don’t want to be poor attend college, Tang added. kids knew, how hardworking they were, off,” Blair said, noting that these young because of that.” Xinhua’s China Chat Studio From 1951 to last year, the central gov- and how dedicated they are to building people will grow up dreaming of being This sentiment was echoed by Rein, who exclusively for China Daily.