Introduction: Journalists from China Tibet Information Center have recently visited many places of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and they have published a series of first-hand materials. The reports show that in the past 30 years since china's reform and opening up, great changes have taken place in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

In 2007, the per capita disposable income of urban residents in Tibet was 11,131 yuan, an increase of almost 20 times compared to 1978 which was only 565 yuan, according to the relevant departments of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Having saying farewell to miserable life in the old Tibet, nowadays people living there enjoy their peaceful life happily.

I Food: Former luxury, now common food

In TAR, former luxury goods have become common people's daily food.

 "lala", a kind of special product made of yak milk, was a kind of luxury food before because 10 kilogramme of yak milk can only make one kilogramme "lala". In Nyainrong county, Nagqu Prefecture, there is a tradition of making "lala". Dekyi, a Tibetan woman of the county, told the reporter about the story between "lala" and her.

According to Dekyi, when she was a little girl, she was always eager to have "lala" when seeing other children from wealthy families eating in holidays. On her wedding day, her husband said to her: "I will work hard to make you have 'lala' every day!"

Now all her dreams have come true. She makes this kind of food for sale and her children can enjoy "lala" whenever they want.

Fruits and vegetable are another example. When TAR was established in 1965, few kinds of fruits were planted in the region. It was difficult for common people even pregnant women to have fresh fruits at that time. However, with the help of advanced technology, nowadays TAR can plant various fruits such as watermelons and peaches. And having fruits has become Tibetan people's daily habit. In addition, the Tibet Autonomous Region has invested on vegetable planting in recent years and nowadays local people can enjoy fresh vegetables in cold winter. Statistics show that in 1981, each person could only have 0.04 kg vegetable every day. However, in 2007, each person can have 0.4 kg vegetable per day.

Besides having better food, Tibetan people enjoy drinking tea as well.

In Lhasa, capital of TAR, you will never miss sweet tea caffs, which embody Tibetan folk-custom mostly. Scattered around Lhasa, sweet tea caffs provide their customers with not only the sweet tea but also the Tibetan culture. The process of making sweet tea is not complicated at all: adding milk powder and white sugar into boiling Tibetan tea. However, you will get "drunk" after having the sweet tea as you will be indulged in the sweet tea caffs, which are dubbed as "business cards" of Lhasa.

II Housing: Windows' change reflects life's change

Journalists from China Tibet Information Center have visited Lhasa and Xigaze Prefecture to know about people's living conditions.

Xigaze:

Dawa, a Tibetan villager of De'gyiling Village, Rinbung County, Xigaze Prefecture, lives in a spacious two-storey house covering 400 square meters. Built in 2005, the house has big and clean windows, which make Dawa's family enjoy the sunshine in winter.

Before, Dawa's old house, which is still kept, has small windows. "Because of lack of materials such as glass and wood, the windows were built small," said Dawa, "In addition, at that time it was cold in winter. If the windows were too large the house wasn't warm enough. Nowadays, the environment has become better and we make use of solar energy to keep warm. Besides, we needn't make small windows to guard against thieves now. So the windows are much larger than before."

Dingba Jigme, vice chairman of Xigaze People's Political Consultative Conference, is a local Tibetan in the Xigaze Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region, who has lived in Xigaze city since his childhood. When mentioning Xigaze's changes since China's reform and opening up, Dingba Jigme said: "Great changes have taken place in last 30 years since China's reform and opening up."

According to Dingba Jigme, before 1978 there were no high buildings or asphalt roads in Xigaze city, saying nothing of high buildings and wide roads can be seen everywhere in the city.

"Not only the urban areas have changed, rural areas have been improved as well," said Dingba Jigme, "The rural people live in clean houses with two or three storeys."

Tashi, head of Dina Village of the Xigaze Prefecture, told the reporter: "This year we have built a 95-square-meter house with 950,000 yuan."

Lhasa:

Tobgye, a 63-year-old Tibetan man from Gaba Village, Ngaqen Town, Chengguan District of Lhasa, where the housing project for rural people has just been completed in 2007.

According to Tobgye, the housing project for Gaba Village has benefited 23 households with 640,000 yuan from the government, 970,000 yuan from the local people and 560,000 for the loan.

As for the house of Tobgye's 6-member family, they spent 250,000 yuan on it and received the government's subsidy of 25,000 yuan while enjoying a loan from the bank without interest. Since his son is in architecture business, their house was designed by Tobgye's son.

Tobgye showed the journalists around. Covering more than 40 square meters, the living room is equipped with comfortable sofas, pretty Tibetan cabinets, on which there is a color TV and video equipment. The Tobgye couple's bedroom, beside which is their hall for worshipping Buddha, is in complete Tibetan style while their grandsons' bedroom on the second floor is very modern.

"Our house is not the best one," said Tobgye, "there are some that are better than ours."

The following is from Wang Yiming, a common retired Tibetan man in Lhasa. 

My family lives in the Barkor street of Lhasa, near the Potala Palace, which is listed as a place of the World Cultural Heritage. I am 71 years old this year and have witnessed the differences between the old Tibet and the new one. And China's reform and opening up policy has helped a great deal in the past 30 years.

In the old Tibet, all family members of mine served Xuekang laird and lived miserably. After Tibet's Peaceful Liberation in 1951, we moved into a 10-sq.m Tibetan-style house on the ground floor.

At that time, the conditions were very poor. In the house we were not able to see sunlight all year round and the Barkor street had no drainages or latrines. Sweet tea houses were scattered around rubbish such as dog-ends, wastepaper and leftovers. Rubbish was even thrown from upstairs. There were no trash cans or spittoons around the Lhasa Hotel, which was the most comfortable and beautiful building along Barkor street at that time.

If it rained in the evening, the whole street was so dark that some people were hurt or even died when they rode because there was no electricity at that time. Crime and accidents sometimes happened in places of public entertainment. And my children and their classmates read by the candle light or kerosene lamps.

In the 30 years since China's reform and opening up, the Barkor street has changed so rapidly that it seems like a dream!

Take my four-member family for example. Since the Lhasa People's Government  rebuilt Barkor street in 1991, we moved into a new house of more than 50 sq.m on the second floor as many courtyards with traditional Tibetan features have been built. And the house has been equipped with a color TV, new mats, new furniture and an electromotor for making butter tea.

Not only my family but also the whole of Barkor street has changed greatly. Narrow lanes have been replaced by wide streets and low houses have become bright Tibetan buildings with colorful street lamps around. Decorated with white ceramic tiles,  latrines in the street are clean with automatic controllers that deal with sewage. The Barkor street has been equipped with so many drainages that the street will keep clean even when it rains heavily.
 
III Environment: Ancient city, modern looks

"In recent years, Lhasa has changed so greatly that even I often feel surprised. I had been to aother city some days before and after I came back I even can't recognize some places because they had changed so much," said 66-year-old Phuntsok, who lives in Lhasa and has fallen in love with photography after retirement.

Since China's reform and opening up in 1978, great changes have taken place in Lhasa. In the past few years, the economy in Lhasa has developed with great speed and the gross national product (GNP) has reached 3.6 billion yuan.

Architectures such as Lhasa Hotel, Tibet People's Hall, Tibet University, Tibet Museum, Lhasa Cinema, and etc. have combined both ethnic and modern features.
Modern traffic systems havebeen built in Lhasa. 12 trunk roads started operation in 2000, and 3 ones are in construction, the total investment of which exceeds 300 million yuan. Together with 1st Road and 2nd Ring Road, Beijing Road, Jiangsu Road, Lingkor Road, Nyangri Road, Sera Road and Damrad Road have formed the modern traffic truss.

The residents' living conditions in the old district of Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, also have been improving around better environment.

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.

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.

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 modern equipments. 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.

IV Articles for use: Hada on the water faucet

In TAR, Hada represents good wishes, and nowadays it can be seen on water faucets of rural families.

On November 28, the journalists from China Tibet Information Center visited Paggarxoi Village of Dagze County, Lhasa to know about the implementation of the "Mother Water Celler" project. When journalists visited Losang Drolkar's house, they saw white hada on a water faucet. The 66-year-old Tibetan woman told the reporter:"It was very convenient for us to take water before the water celler was built. And nowadays we are so happy because we can enjoy clean water without much efforts."

Launched by China Women's Development Foundation (CWDF) of All-China Women's Federation since 2001, the project has benefited more than 50,000 people with over 108 million yuan. Up to the end of 2006, 28 Solar Thermal wells, 14 wide wells and 405 hand pressure wells have been completed.

The project has improved the local people's life a lot. Taking Gaiyi Village of Xigaze Prefecture for example, before villagers had to take water from a hill 3 kilometers away and the per capita income was only about 1,400 yuan with only 60 people working outside. After the water celler of the village has been built, the per capita income has reached more than 2,000 yuan with over 100 villagers working outside.
Besides enjoying cleaner water, people in TAR have made best use of solar energy in people's daily life, which has both saved energy and protected the environment. When journalists visited Bana Village in Sangri Town of Lhoka Prefecture, Kanglang, a villager from the village, was cooking with methane gas. And solar photovoltaic panels can be seen in many places of Payang Town.

Modern articles such as mobiles, cars, tractors can be seen commonly in TAR, not to mention TVs, refrigerators or computers.

V Business: Former serf, now hotel boss

As a serf in old Tibet, Tashi, a 68-year-old Tibetan man in Lhoka Prefecture of TAR, has now become the boss of Tashi Hotel.

Located in the south of Kangdese Mountain and near Yamzhou Yumco Lake, Tashi Hotel in Arza Town always welcomes many tourists who come here for its fame from home and abroad, from April to September every year. Among them some are from America, Japan and etc. Tourists with travel guide in hand and posters from different countries can often be seen in the hotel.

Tashi looked very happy when talking about his hotel. "My hotel has received the support of the local government as many preferential policies have been put forward since China' reform and opening-up. Income of the hotel is pretty good because it has an advantage of a good location." Tashi Hotel has over 20 rooms with the capital of about 80,000 yuan and Tashi can be listed as the richest man in Arza Town.

"I had never expected that in the past because I had lived a dog's life as a serf," said Tashi, "I did everything at that time but still couldn't see hope. I thought maybe I would live like that for my whole life."

"However, after the democratic reform in the Tibet Autonomous Region, I began my new life by opening a clothing store, which ended my miserable life. And later I opened my hotel, which is the 1st hotel in my town," Tashi told the reporter.

Besides enjoying the sunset and stars, tourists can see mountains covered with snow in the clean Tashi Hotel though it is a bit simple because it has no TVs or lavatorys.

Living in a Tibetan-style house, Tashi has a happy family: his son is an official in the local finance bureau and his two grandsons study in Hunan. Tashi wishes that they study hard to work for their hometown in the future.

"My hotel runs well and I feel satisfied with my present life," Tashi said.

When the journalists left Tashi's house, a row of new houses were found to finish construction in front of Tashi Hotel. That was a secret of elder Tashi: He wants to enlarge the hotel.

"30 years ago, we led a miserable life. However, nowadays, we live well with our hard work and the support from the government," said Phur Tshe, a 42-year-old villager from Tongmen Town, Xietongmen County, Xigaze Prefecture.

Phur Tshe's family can earn 40,000 yuan every year by making leather goods in Tibetan style. His products attracted many people on the Xigaze Trade Fair for their practicality and beauty.

In Phur Tshe's factory, several workers were working on leather boots. "The government invested more than 80,000 yuan to build the factory for us," said Phur Tshe.

Having living well himself, Phur Tshe tries to help his villagers by teaching them his ancestral skills. "I feel happiest when my neighbours get rich by the craftmanship I teach them," said Phur Tshe.

In Dina Village of the Xigaze Prefecture, the Tibet Autonomous Region, the average capita of the village reached 10,160 yuan in 2008 and the gross income of the village in 2007 hit 4,173,862 yuan. The village had become rich by developing transportation industry with the support from the government.

"Take my family for example, the government invested 150,000 yuan for us to buy a truck in 2003 and after that we could earn 150,000 yuan, 200,000 yuan, or even 300,000 yuan every year," said Tashi, head Dina Village.

Duoluo, a knifesmith of Kaga Village, Xietongmen County, Xigaze Prefecture, has become the No. 1 rich man in his village by making Tibetan knives. He earns more than 70,000 yuan every year by this skill and his two sons who make knives with him can get 50,000 yuan and 30,000 annually.

Originated from Bhutan, the technique of making Kaga Tibetan Knife was transferred to Tibet by border trade. As one of the most famous kinds of Tibetan knife, the Kaga Tibetan Knife boasts tenacity with fine imagery. Invested by the government, "Tibetan Knife Processing Cooperation" is going to be set up with Duoluo as the head of the organization.  As the knife sells well, Duoluo has not only made himself rich but also helped his villagers live better by teaching them such skill.

Nowadays, in Xietongmen County, 52 people of 28 households make Kaga Tibetan Knife and 10 families have exquisite skills. Each household can earn more than 100,000 annually.

Rural people in Rinbung county of Xigaze Prefecture have also become rich by doing other jobs such as painting, building houses and etc. besides doing traditional rural work.

Dawa, a local villager who works in the Education Bureau of Rinbung County, told the reporter: "My family have earned about 200,000 yuan this year, a bit less than previous years." Dawa's wife weaves pulu in slack time and his 3 brothers sell Tibetan furniture, driving trucks and painting on houses separately. Their family live better now. And their 400-sq.m. house cost them more than 400,000 yuan in 2005.

Phurbu, a neighbour of Dawa, is decorating his new house, which is at the value of 120,000 yuan. Most of the money was earned by working outside.

Trupgyi, a rural man from Tajie Town, Dagze County of Lhasa, had never expected that he could become so rich. This year he had sold more than 40 pigs for more than 16,000 yuan and he will sell 11 more pigs more before the Spring Festival. In addition, the pig introduced from the mainland city just gave birth to 10 baby pigs and another two pigs of his will give birth soon. According to the market price, each baby pig will bring him about 500 yuan.
When talking about this to the Women's Federation of TAR, who helps the Tajie Town, Trupgyi said happily: "Thanks for the support from the government."

According to Trupgyi, his family lived in poverty just a few years ago. Hovever, the TAR Women's Federation invited agriculture experts to teach them techniques and the government lent them more than 10,000 yuan without interest to help them build the green house. Nowadays, his daughter-in-law plants vegetables in greenhouses and vegetables that are left over can be used to feed the pigs while the pigs' dejecta can be used as fertilizer for planting.

Trupgyi is not an exception in Dagze County. Zhasang, president of Women's Federation of Tajie Town, said: "In the town, 292 households raise pigs, and 100  of them have more than 10 pigs. These rural people have improved their life rapidly."

Conclusion: Practice proves that the past 30 years were a period in which China's national strength rose a big margin and the past 30 years have benefited local Tibetans a lot and reform and opening-up are the fundamental causes of all the achievements and progress China has made. As life has changed greatly, Tibetan people do cherish the current situation which was earned by their great efforts and no one or no organizations are allowed to disturb local people's happiness as development is the highlight of the whole Tibet Autonomous Region.