More than 30,000 Tibetans now use Tibetan-language mobile phones in southwest China's Tibet, according to the Tibetan Regional Telecommunication Department.
A wireless communication system was introduced in Tibet's rural areas in 2003 to make communications easier among farmers. However, as most of them do not speak the Han language, it is hard for them to send text messages via mobiles that only have Han-language instructions.
Tibetan-language mobiles are seen on a billboard in this undated file photo, photo from Xinhua.
In late 2004, the Tibet Branch of China Telecommunications Corporation (China Telecom) set up a research and development team for Tibetan-language mobile phones.
After one year of work, the Tibetan language communication system was put into use in 2005.
Qujie, a herdsman from the Nagqu Prefecture in northern Tibet, was sending text messages to his family via his mobile. "I don't speak the Han language. Now it is really convenient for me to have a phone that can send messages in the Tibetan language," he said happily.
The Tibetan language, one of the oldest languages in the world, has a history of more than 1,300 years. Information technology in the Tibetan language is more developed than the languages of other Chinese ethnic groups.
Nowadays, modern communication techniques such as online chat and Internet browsers in the Tibetan language have enabled more Tibetans to enjoy the convenience brought by the information age.
China Tibet Information Center (www.tibet.cn) is going to change its look, again! We would like to hear from you about your opinions and suggestions so that we can make our website more user-friendly, and provide information regarding Tibet as much as we can. Please send email to entibet@vip.sina.com, thank you!
