Tsonyi County, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, started the relocation of its second batch of residents on Tuesday, as part of the region's plan to improve people's living conditions and protect the fragile local ecosystem.

With an average altitude of over 5,000 meters, Tsonyi County covers a total area of 120,000 square km and is part of the Changtang National Nature Reserve, China's biggest and highest nature reserve.

Due to the high altitude and harsh environment, the county is not suitable for human habitation. The oxygen in the air is a mere 40 percent of that on the plain. Its winter lasts 10 months each year, with the lowest temperatures reaching minus 40 degrees Celsius.

At around 7:40 a.m. Tuesday, more than 300 residents left their hometown in Doima Township of Tsonyi, China's highest county, moving nearly 1,000 km southward to their new home Singpori.

Singpori is on the north bank of the Yarlung Zangbo River in the city of Shannan, located at an altitude of 3,600 meters. It is only some 10 km from the Lhasa airport.

Four townships of the county will complete relocation by early August, and by then, all seven townships of Tsonyi, including the three that moved in 2019, will have completed relocation.

Tibet relocated the first batch of 2,900 residents in Tsonyi to Singpori in 2019.