China's
Qinghai-
Tibet railway will begin trial operation on
July 1 this year, and it has attracted large numbers of travelers
to go sightseeing in Tibet.
To date, train tickets for the six lines to Tibet, including
from Beijing to Lhasa, have been booked up by travel agencies,
according to railway sources.
The 1,142-kilometer-long Qinghai-Tibet railway, which runs
across the frozen tundras of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from Golmud
of Qinghai to Lhasa, is the first railway connecting the Tibet
Autonomous Region with other parts of China.
With the trial operation of passenger trains, tourists will find
it more convenient to travel to Tibet, since the railway is
comparatively low-cost and safer than other transport means, said
Ma Baocheng, deputy general manager of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway
Company.
For travelers to have sufficient time to enjoy the natural
beauty on the plateau, the passenger trains will depart in the
morning and arrive in the evening.
Meanwhile, this world's highest and longest plateau railroad
will have two oxygen supply systems on trains to combat the effects
of altitude sickness on passengers.
Oxygen will come from a system like central air-conditioning on
trains, which can ensure the oxygen content in carriages at about
85 percent of that in plain areas, said Ma, adding that oxygen
masks will also be installed near seats for passengers to use in
case they still feel sick.
About 800,000 more travelers will visit Tibet by way of Qinghai
with the operation of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, said Zhang Fuhua,
an official with the Qinghai tourism administration.
Qinghai is making efforts to speed up the tourism infrastructure
construction to cope with the increase of tourists, Zhang said.
(Xinhua News Agency May 3, 2006)
