"Only those who have experienced harsh winter know most the warmth of sun," said Saijor Zhoigar, the former vice president of the Tibet University, after comparing his life before and after the democratic reform of Tibet in 1961.
Zhoigar became a grazing serf at the age of seven, and didn't have enough to eat and wear at that time
Even in the first half of the 20th century, Tibet remained a society of feudal serfdom under theocracy.
"An earthquake hit my hometown Biru County in 1953, with cattle buried and tents destroyed, which made our miserable lives even harder," recalled Zhoigar.
"But the Tibet local government continued to levy head tax, and they even snatched the only small piece of butter which my family stored for the Tibetan new year."
"In 1957 the north Tibet was swept by a snowstorm, I was 11 years old then. As the only labor force in my family, I had to herd for the serf owner and collect cow dung for heating, despite the snow half my height."
"My family worshipped living Buddha. Every time I was struggling to get myself out a snow pit, every time I was starving in freezing weather, I kept wondering where was the god and the living Buddha," said Zhoigar, tears on his face.
The 62-year-old man removed the tears, "a huge snowstorm hit the north Tibet in 1987, also left cattle dead. At the critical moment, the central government sent helicopters to drop food, fuel and other life necessities for residents there, what a sharp contrast," said Zhoigar.
Serfs made up more than 95 percent of the population in the old Tibet. Owners sold, mortgaged and bartered serfs as just one more kind of property.
"The People's Liberation Army (PLA), who helped Tibetan people to quell an armed rebellion with an attempt to separate Tibet from China in 1959, saved me and sent me to a school in Lhasa. I was later sent to study in a school in the inner land."