Aid-Xizang program turns natural wonder into popular tourist town in SW China

If you walk into the Xia Yigou Earth Forest in Zanda County of Nezha Prefecture, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, you will find yourself in an exotic world. This is a unique tulin or earth forest landform on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau formed by water wind erosion. It's also a must-visit site for photography enthusiasts. Xizang's Zanda County is also home to the ruins of the Guge Kingdom, which is thought to have been founded in the 10th century, and the Qionglong Silver City, ruins of the Xiangxiong's ancient capital and other attractions. Now, it has become the Xiangzi Tourism Town, a key part of the Eighth Xizang Project, Hebei Province's effort to help Xizang's Zanda County with a total investment of about 110 million yuan or 15.30 million U.S. dollars. With the help of the Eighth Xizang Project, tickets and sightseeing buses to the Xia Yigou Scenic Spot are free of charge in order to attract tourists to visit the area. The 9-12 bus drivers in the Xia Yigou Scenic Area are all local Tibetan villagers. During the peak season, they transport tourists on over 20 trips a day with a monthly salary of 4,500 yuan or 620 U.S. dollars. These Tibetan drivers said that they have a stable job at home and their lives are both full and happy. So this year marks the 30th anniversary of the Eighth Xizang Program. Hebei has dispatched about 800 cadres and technical talent to work in Xizang and has invested a total of 2.818 billion yuan or 387.6 million U.S. dollars to support the development of the autonomous region. As of May this year, Zanda County has received over 60,700 tourists. In addition to the tourism industry, Hebei also promotes the local plantation of seed buckthorn, implementing a whole range of aid in cold storage, processing, and brand promotion. Now Zanda County has basically realized the large-scale development of highland seed buckthorn industry. The Xia Yigou Scenic Area not only lets people see the towering and varied sights of earth forests and view nature's amazing work, but also witness the country's efforts to aid the Xizang Autonomous Region over the past three decades. This tourism town in Zanda County might be tiny, but it nurtures the hopes of thousands of aid workers to build a better future for Xizang.