As a Tibetan journalist sees the Qinghai-Tibet Railway

On the morning of July 1st, standing on the platform of the Lhasa Railway Station, I look after the train that smoothly pilots off the horizon.

This is the scene I, as a Tibetan, expect for such long. And this is the scene I, as a journalist, leaving me surging thoughts after I have also witnessed the entire construction process of the Railway.

That was 16 years ago when I first saw a train. At that year, I started my study along with another 85 Tibetan students through examinations at a Tibetan middle school in Taiyuan, capital of Shan'xi Province. The long-distance coach took me almost half a month from my hometown the Ngari Prefecture to reach Shan'xi by way of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (It's a must path!).

I was happy with my school life inland, but every time I went back to my home Tibet after a long toss and bump voyage, I was exclaimed: what if a railway connects between!

On June 29, 2001, the long-expecting Qinghai-Tibet Railway starts construction. At the same year, I became a journalist at the Xinhua News Agency after graduating from the Central University for Nationalities, and fortunately joined the reporters for the great project.

Over the past five years, many memorable scenes of the construction process imprinted in my memories. And the most impressive for me, a Tibetan, was the protection over traditional Tibetan culture in the building of the railway.

On Nov. 2, 2002, I found an outstanding board that reads "No admission to the premises" at a construction site at Amdo County in Nagqu Prefecture. I was so surprised.

But the premises turned out to be a celestial burial ground after my enquiry. It's a special concern for the railway construction to shun away from the holy premise, and for keeping construction workers from sightseeing premise. The little move as a matter of fact bears off the earth excavating location almost three kilometers, and thus increases the cost by over two mln yuan per month!

I was deeply moved by the move, and I told the story to Tatra Dainzin Geleg, a living Bhudda in Tibet. He sighed with emotion, "Every Tibetan would be happy with that."