CRI听力: Housing project in north Tibet

The nomads of northern Tibet thrive in summer and survive in winter. Harsh winter weather makes their lifestyle very hard, but nowadays, more and more herdsmen can live comfortably in their own houses, thanks to a government housing project. Zhang Wan finds out more.

Reporter:
There is an old Chinese saying: people who live in peace and stability can enjoy their work. The meaning of this proverb is becoming clear for many nomads in Nagqu prefecture of northern Tibet, where hundreds of thousands of local farmers and herdsmen are benefiting from a government housing project. (www.hXen.com)

How has this housing project helped locals enjoy a stable life? To find out, we visit a herdsman's house in Luoma Town of Nagqu.

A local herdsman named Langjie moved into this new 350-square meter house along with his wife and their four children in 2006. We walk through a courtyard where various flowers and green plants are growing and sit down in his spacious and well-decorated sitting room.

"Where we lived before had very poor conditions. The 50-square-meter house was simply built with bricks and earth. In 2006, we moved here, thanks to the housing project in Luoma Town."

Over the past several decades, many local herdsmen in Nagqu have built their own houses as part of a privileged housing policy. Langjie says his life has undergone great changes along with the improvement of his living conditions.

"We lead very comfortable and happy lives nowadays. Thanks to the central government's privileged policy, we built our houses and I have also started my own teahouse business. In addition, I also helped other villagers do private business such as selling their milk products."

Since 2006, Tibet has been pursuing policies that improve the living conditions of farmers and herdsmen. Thanks to the region-wide housing project, Tibetan farmers and herdsmen, who make up a majority of the total Tibetan population, can spend very little and still live in comfortable and well-equipped houses.

Pu Zhen, the director of the Finance Bureau of Nagqu Prefecture, says more than 160,000 locals have benefited from the housing project over the past four years. (www.hXen.com)

"The housing project has brought great and tangible benefits to local farmers and herdsmen. When the project was carried out at first, many locals had doubts about it. But nowadays they all rush off to the front to build their own houses and improve their living conditions. This is because they have seen the real benefits brought by the housing project."

The project, the largest ever of this kind in Tibet, will help 80 percent of rural Tibetans settle down in new houses within five years. In Tibet's rural areas, nearly 220,000 households are expected to have benefited from the housing project by the end of 2009.

For China Drive, I am Zhang Wan in Lhasa.