The Tibetan-style sitting room of a house in Xiasasu Community, Lhasa, photo from China Tibet Information Center.

The new building in Lhasa, photo from China Tibet Information Center.

Langzong family's sitting room, photo from China Tibet Information Center.

A clean street, photo from China Tibet Information Center.

The residents' living conditions in the old district of Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, have been improving since China's reform and opening-up.

Data show that 90% houses of the old district of Lhasa are dangerous, 20% of which are especially dangerous. Many dwellers suffered from arthritis because of bad living conditions. Qunzong, an elder Tibetan mom,is one who has experienced arthritis because of the bad living conditions

When we visited Qunzong family, she had just returned from hospital. Accompanied with Qunzong, her husband, son, and daughter, Qunzong enjoys her spacious house whose living room is sunny as sunshine permeates bright windows.

Qunzong said:"Before alteration, we lived in the second floor and at that time, the house was damp in summer and chilly in winter. With dim light, the courtyard was dirty and messy. Streets of the old district were narrow and uneven and rubbish could be seen everywhere. Narrow lanes were filled with a terrible odor, which made the living environment worse."

According to Lhasa Construction Bureau, houses in this city's old district are built with stones, wood, and earth. Granite and earth billets are the main materials for those architectures. Low, obscure and wet, these houses have no municipal appliances or fire protection facilities.

Since China's reform and opening-up, the government has taken measures to reconstruct the old district of Lhasa. From 2001 to 2004, 68 courtyards had been restored. 56 of them were invested by the government and 12 of them (9 courtyards are culture relics and 3 courtyards are ancient architectures.) were invested by Lhasa Construction Bureau. The whole project covers 39,536 square meters. 2,090 families including 12,570 people had moved into new houses which completed construction in August, 2004 at a cost of 79.49 million yuan.

After that, with 50.82 million yuan, 26 courtyards have been rebuilt in the old district of Lhasa, which covers 39,536 square meters. 4,275 people from 1,088 families have benefited from it. In 2008, the reconstruction of 11 courtyards covering 26,811.9 square meters with an investment of 23.05 million yuan is to end construction at the end of November, which will benefit about a thousand people.

Nowadays, houses in Tibetan style have risen up in Lhasa with clean and orderly streets extending far and wide. Former dirty courtyards have become clean and civilized ones. Just as Qunzong said:"The streets now are so plain that even blind people don't need to worry that they will fall into wallows or be stumbled upon rubbish. People live in houses that look as beautiful as gardens. Even though some families still have not acquired their own houses, we believe that the government will help them."

In Murong Neighbourhood which the Qunzong family is under jurisdiction of, Langzong family also enjoy their pretty houses with a refrigerator, a washing machine, a color TV, phones and mobiles. Drinking butter tea, Luozhu, an elder from Xiasasu Neighbourhood, enjoys the beautiful scenery with his wife in front of his sitting room: water in Lhasa river is flowing while the snow mountain keeps silent.

It is reported that in the past years, departments concerned required that Tibetan culture and Tibetan customs should be kept when rebuilding the architecture. In addition, complimenting with the environment around is demanded as well.

In addition, since 1979, the government invested a large amount of money in reconstructing appliances in the old district of Lhasa without destroying the former style. Up to the end of last year, 430,000 square meters of old architecture have been restored.