As the harsh winter lingers on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, people living around Qinghai Lake, China's largest saltwater lake, are enjoying their new lifestyles in resettlement communities built for those willing to give up their traditional nomadic ways of life.
"I'm yearning for the coming spring, when more tourists will come and I will reopen my restaurant," said Dorjie Gya, a 45-year-old former Tibetan herder in Daotanghe township, Gonghe county of Hainan Tibetan prefecture in northeastern Qinghai province, one of the five largest pasturing regions in China.
Situated along the route to Qinghai Lake, Daotanghe township attracts plenty of tourists during peak tourist seasons, boosting the development of the local catering industry.
Dorjie's restaurant mostly serves Sichuan cuisine in a two-story brick structure nestled on the lakefront.
Last summer, his well-positioned restaurant earned over 90,000 yuan (14,223 U.S. dollars).
In his cozy, furnished home, Dorjie recalled the nomadic lifestyle he lived just two years ago. At that time, he lived with his family in a shabby adobe structure on the pasture about 9 km away from his new home.
"Raising 100 sheep and 30 heads of cattle, I earned only half of what I do now," Dorjie said.
Dorjie and his three family members moved to the new residential community along with 82 other herdsmen's households after the local government built the community for them in 2011.
Since giving up their old lifestyle, herdsmen on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau have broadened their horizons and seen an increase in incomes.
Former Tibetan herder Khon Taixian settled down in his new house beside the lake in 2010.
Khon runs a hostel in the two-story building equipped with Tibetan furniture and heating facilities powered by solar and wind energies. Last year, his business brought in about 200,000 yuan.
"Thanks to the resettlement program, we only paid about 40,000 yuan for the house," said Khon.
Qinghai's resettlement program has provided permanent housing for more than 270,000 nomads from 64,066 families since it was launched in 2009, and new resettlement communities for another 14,600 families are expected to be built this year.
Meanwhile, Mongolian herders have stories similar to that of their Tibetan neighbors. With 25,000 yuan provided by the local government, Dargye bought his 60-square-meter home for only 15,000 yuan in Menggu village, a mixed community of Mongolians and Tibetans under the jurisdiction of Daotanghe.
"We lead a happy and convenient life now with tap water, electricity and Internet access," said Dargye.
"We used to travel all day on a horse to send children to school, see a doctor, or go to work in the county, but life has become much easier as we live along the highway and have a one-hour drive to the county by motorcycle," he added.
Being a herdsman was not easy on the barren prairies of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, as the annual income of his family was only 10,000 yuan in the past when they depended on grazing, Dargye said.
Since resettling, Dargye and his wife have secured jobs in Xining, capital of Qinghai province, and now earn over 30,000 yuan per year.
Dargye is thinking of building a greenhouse near the new community to grow vegetables in the spring.
"We can eat fresh vegetables and make some money as well," Dargye said.
Source: Xinhua
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