‘Secret lotus’ link to outside world
Print Edition
Fifty-eight years ago, Norbu Cering spent 10 days scaling dangerous mountains and hiking through valleys to journey out of his hometown in Medog — a county in Tibet Autonomous Region that was China’s last to receive a highway link.
Now 85, back in the 1950s, Norbu Cering was among the first three people to leave Medog to go to college in Beijing.
“Generations of people in this isolated county dreamed of seeing the outside world, but few people dared to travel,” said Norbu Cering, who comes from the Monba ethnic group.
Medog, in Nyingchi Prefecture in southeastern Tibet, has been described as the “secret lotus.” It’s quite different from other regions in Tibet in scenery and weather. Surrounded by mountains, Medog is humid and rich in resources.
Getting out of Medog used to be a dangerous journey involving climbing Galung La and Doxong La, two snow-capped mountains rising more than 4,000 meters above sea level.
But in December 2010, a key project to build a 3.3-kilometer tunnel through Galung La Mountain was completed.
With a population density of 0.29 people per square kilometer, Medog was the last of China’s 2,100 counties to be connected to a highway.
The people of Medog can now take cars and coaches on the 117km highway that links Medog and Zhamog Township, the county seat of Bome. The trip takes seven to eight hours in good weather conditions.
“Medog residents can realize the dream by a short and easier highway journey,” said Baima Qoezhoen, Party secretary of Padainze Village in Medog.
The highway cost about 950 million yuan (US$154.85 million), and in the 2013-2015 period, Tibet will invest about 50 billion yuan on building 70,000km of highway.
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