Railway brings tourism hot season in advance

"More and more customers come to my shop and maybe the train brings them to Lhasa. This year, the tourism hot season comes at least 10 days earlier," said Zhao Xiaoou from a handiwrok shop near the Jokhang Temple Square.

More and more tourists can be found in Lhasa especially in some scenic spots. The Jokhang Temple can meet about 500 visitors every day and such amount can be only met during the May Day in former years.

Statistics from the TAR Tourism Bureau show that in the first quarter of 2007, Tibet has received 116,000 tourists with an increase of 15.8 per cent. Last year, Tibet has greeted 2.45 million tourists with an increase of 36 per cent and in 2007, Tibet is expected to receive more than three million visitors.

Since the operation of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway on July 1, 2006, 1,876,000 passengers have entered Qinghai and Tibet by train. Zhao Yi, vice stationmaster of the Lhasa Railway Station said that from early April, the Station could receive over 2,000 passengers per day.

Currently, many travel agencies, hotels and restaurants start to prepare for the coming May Day golden week.