Basomtso Lake tourism to improve livelihood of villagers

Basomtso Lake Scenic Area in Gongbo'gyamda county, Nyingchi prefecture in Tibet, Oct 22. Before 2002, the lake was cut off from mainstream tourists due to bad road conditions. In 2002, only 4,621 visitors arrived at the lake. Most of them were Buddhists walking around the sacred mountains as pilgrims. Villagers in the county earned 30,000 yuan ($4,903) by providing tourist services including lodging and food service, and the whole county made 68,600 yuan from tourism in 2002. [Photo by Ma Danning/chinadaily.com.cn]