Trip to Tibet set to become easier

Travelling to Tibet is all set to become easier for foreigners, as the local government is considering doing away with the laissez-passer system, a senior Tibetan official said.

New Delhi, June 21 : Travelling to Tibet is all set to become easier for foreigners, as the local government is considering doing away with the laissez-passer system, a senior Tibetan official said.

"To make the entry of overseas visitors into Tibet more convenient, we are actively thinking to do away with the past practice at a proper time," Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) Chairman Qiangba Puncog said.

Another project that would attract foreigners and make the travel easier is a highway on Mount Everest, the China Daily quoted Qiangba, as saying.

The road to the world's highest peak will be completed before August 2008, in time for the Beijing Olympic Games, and will become the major route for tourists and mountaineers.

Some tourists who visited the base camp complained about the poor and unsafe condition of the road, prompting the TAR authorities to "rebuild" it, Qiangba said.

He added that whenever a big scheme has been planned to protect the region's fragile and complicated ecological system, environmental concerns has always be taken care.

For example, vast tracks of land along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway have been protected since it opened in July 2006 and steps have been taken to preserve the ecology along the 1,956-km tracks, he added.

Of the 2.8 million people in Tibet, 92 per cent are of Tibetan ethnic group, five percent are Hans and the rest are from other ethnic groups, Qiangba said.

"Their custom and traditional festivals remain unchanged even after millions of tourists have been there the region following the central government's massive investment in the region," he added.

The TAR is also considering allocating funds for maintenance and renovation of world heritage sites and major cultural relics in the region in the next five years, the official said.

ANI