China's newly-built railway to Tibet will be extended some 270
km from Lhasa to the region's second largest city of Xigaze next
year, a local official said Wednesday.
The project is expected to take three years, said Yu Yungui,
executive vice commissioner with the Administrative Office of
Xigaze Prefecture in Tibet Autonomous Region, at a news conference
in the regional capital of Lhasa.
"The railway will offer great opportunities for the social and
economic development of Xigaze," Yu said.
About 3,500 tourists have visited Xigaze every day since July 1
when the Qinghai-Tibet Railway opened, and all the hotels in the
city have been fully occupied, he said.
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway stretches 1,956 kilometers from
Xining, capital of northwest China's Qinghai Province, to Lhasa.
About 960 kilometers is located 4,000 meters above sea level and
the highest point is 5,072 meters, at least 200 meters higher than
the Peruvian railway in the Andes, formerly the world's highest
track.
The railway linked Tibet with the rest of the country for the
first time.
The city of Xigaze, located at an altitude of about 3,800
meters, is the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, and the
prefecture is also an important production base for agriculture and
animal husbandry in Tibet.
The Xigaze prefecture borders India, Nepal and Bhutan in the
south.
(Xinhua News Agency August 10, 2006)