DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22468#0086
Six HH.n*t»'i«s« March 1, 1959
PROGRESS IN TIBET
BY \VU CHANG-CHIH
Ringed by some of
the world's highest moun-
tains, libet ' before the
liberation had no modern
roads or means of com-
munioation. Goods were
ohiefly transported by
yak. Travel* was mainly
on horseback. To take
a cargo of merchandise
from Lhasa down to
Chengtu in Szeohuan Pro-
vince, and back, was a
year's journey. Move-
ment on the Tibetan
plateau itself, where the
atmospheric pressure is
low 'and hailstorms are
frequent occurrences, was
fraught with hazard. It
used to take two weeks
to journey from Lhasa,
the capital of the region,
to either of the two major
cities of Shigatse or
Gyantee.
No More Isolated
The great new high-
ways built by the men
of the People's Liberation
Army and oivilian road
builders—each in itself a
tremendous feat of civil
engineering—have put an
end to Tibet's age long
isolation. The Kangting-
Tibet Highway. 1,400
miles long, rises by giant
mountain range steps from
l'owlying, fertile Szeohuan
Province, crosses the tur-
bulent Tatu, Yalung,
Lantsang and Nu river*
and runs through hund-
reds of miles of primeval
forest, wide pasture and
marshland The Chinghai.
Tibet Highway starts
from Sining and is over
1,300 miles, passing over
wide grassy p'ains, cros-
sing a stretch of desert,
winding over the Tang La
Mountains and bridg'ng
some 20. rivers. These
roads were completed in
19?4. In October Of lt67,
still another great tmtik
road—from Sinkiang— was
officially open<d to traffic.
More than 7f0 miles long,
its average height is 13.700
feet above sealevel—the
highest icad in the world.
By the end of 1967.
more than 3,700 miles of
new roads had been built
in the Tibetan region itself
Travel is now reckoned
by days and hours.instead
of months and years. In
May 1956 the first pas-
senger flight to Lhasa
inaugurated tbe Peking-
Lhasa airline Eventually
a railway will run from
Lanobow in Kansu Pro-
vince right to Lhasa.
In the past, overland
mail took more than a
year to get to Peking.
No writ takes ten days.
There is direot tadio-
telephonio communication
between Lhasa and the
capital Wire broadcasting
systems have been ins-
talled in the main cities
and towns.
Beginnings of^Prosperity
Along the new high-
ways moves a steady flow
of basio construction ma-
terials and consumer goods
for tbe Tibetan people's
needs. Tbe list of items
fur sale in the.shops of
the libetsn 1 raci* Com-
pany is seven or eight
times longer than befoie
the roeds were luilt,while
prices are an average 12
per cmt l< wer On the
other hand, 'libel's herds-
men, peasrnts and orafts-
m'n get far rcoie for
their wool, bides, medici-
nal herbs and industrial
raw matsiiala tban they
did in the past. By July
1956, 110 lbs of wool
could be exchanged by a
herd! man for six times
m 6 re—tea-'fh an formeily
The Tibetan branch of
the People's Bank of
China and the Tibetan
Trading Compary. opera-
ting on the principle of
earing for the needs of
the people while allowing
a profit to be gained by
private merchants, have
PROGRESS IN TIBET
BY \VU CHANG-CHIH
Ringed by some of
the world's highest moun-
tains, libet ' before the
liberation had no modern
roads or means of com-
munioation. Goods were
ohiefly transported by
yak. Travel* was mainly
on horseback. To take
a cargo of merchandise
from Lhasa down to
Chengtu in Szeohuan Pro-
vince, and back, was a
year's journey. Move-
ment on the Tibetan
plateau itself, where the
atmospheric pressure is
low 'and hailstorms are
frequent occurrences, was
fraught with hazard. It
used to take two weeks
to journey from Lhasa,
the capital of the region,
to either of the two major
cities of Shigatse or
Gyantee.
No More Isolated
The great new high-
ways built by the men
of the People's Liberation
Army and oivilian road
builders—each in itself a
tremendous feat of civil
engineering—have put an
end to Tibet's age long
isolation. The Kangting-
Tibet Highway. 1,400
miles long, rises by giant
mountain range steps from
l'owlying, fertile Szeohuan
Province, crosses the tur-
bulent Tatu, Yalung,
Lantsang and Nu river*
and runs through hund-
reds of miles of primeval
forest, wide pasture and
marshland The Chinghai.
Tibet Highway starts
from Sining and is over
1,300 miles, passing over
wide grassy p'ains, cros-
sing a stretch of desert,
winding over the Tang La
Mountains and bridg'ng
some 20. rivers. These
roads were completed in
19?4. In October Of lt67,
still another great tmtik
road—from Sinkiang— was
officially open<d to traffic.
More than 7f0 miles long,
its average height is 13.700
feet above sealevel—the
highest icad in the world.
By the end of 1967.
more than 3,700 miles of
new roads had been built
in the Tibetan region itself
Travel is now reckoned
by days and hours.instead
of months and years. In
May 1956 the first pas-
senger flight to Lhasa
inaugurated tbe Peking-
Lhasa airline Eventually
a railway will run from
Lanobow in Kansu Pro-
vince right to Lhasa.
In the past, overland
mail took more than a
year to get to Peking.
No writ takes ten days.
There is direot tadio-
telephonio communication
between Lhasa and the
capital Wire broadcasting
systems have been ins-
talled in the main cities
and towns.
Beginnings of^Prosperity
Along the new high-
ways moves a steady flow
of basio construction ma-
terials and consumer goods
for tbe Tibetan people's
needs. Tbe list of items
fur sale in the.shops of
the libetsn 1 raci* Com-
pany is seven or eight
times longer than befoie
the roeds were luilt,while
prices are an average 12
per cmt l< wer On the
other hand, 'libel's herds-
men, peasrnts and orafts-
m'n get far rcoie for
their wool, bides, medici-
nal herbs and industrial
raw matsiiala tban they
did in the past. By July
1956, 110 lbs of wool
could be exchanged by a
herd! man for six times
m 6 re—tea-'fh an formeily
The Tibetan branch of
the People's Bank of
China and the Tibetan
Trading Compary. opera-
ting on the principle of
earing for the needs of
the people while allowing
a profit to be gained by
private merchants, have