Our second stop in today's China on the Move is the Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. Improving transportation infrastructure is a vital part of China's western development strategy. The Qinghai-Tibet railway is one of the symbols. As CCTV reporter Zhang Lu finds out in Tibet, the "road to heaven" is now becoming a "road to prosperity".

 

The train is speeding on the world's highest railway destination Lhasa.

This is the first railway to connect central Tibet to the outside world.

Three years after its operation, the railway has played an increasingly crucial role in stimulating the region's economic development.

Tourism is among the first industries to thrive.

Unique scenes of the Qinghai-Tibet Pleateu can be seen along the railway line. For many visitors, going to Lhasa by train has become an interesting facet of their Tibetan trip.

Tan Zhiqiang and Zhang Minlin are heading to Lhasa for the first time. They are impressed by the scenery and say the only drawback is train won't stop for them to take pictures.

Tan Zhiqiang said, "The scenery along the railway is picturesque. It's really terrific. I think the route design of the railway is very good."

Zhang Minlin, tourist from Shandong, said, "It's so beautiful. At the beginning, we thought of coming over by airplane. We were wise that we didn't. "

Convenient traffic is a basic guarantee for the development of tourism. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway has broken the bottleneck.

In the past three years, the railway has transported more than 8.3 million passengers. What they brought to Tibet is soaring tourism revenue, employment and the development of related sectors including hotels and catering.