The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the world's highest, is to start its trial operations this weekend.

The route stretches from Golmud in Qinghai province to Lhasa, with a length of over 1,100 kilometres, with 960 km of it 4,000 meters above sea level. Its most elevated sections reach 5,072 m.

I was assigned to cover the operation's opening ceremonies in Lhasa due this Saturday.

My trip was not as easy as a flight from Beijing to Lhasa. With three other CRI reporters, I traveled there by car on the Qinghai-Tibet Road from Xining. It is nearly 2,000 km long and basically parallels the railway.

I was somewhat concerned about possible altitude sickness, knowing it could be tough traveling and getting hold of people for interviews on the plateau. But still, I was truly up to it!

My first day started early. It's an 800 km ride from Xining to Golmud, the gateway of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

The weather was unbelievably unpredictable along the way. It could be scorching hot in the first ten minutes and freezing cold due to sudden snow or hail in the next.
Braving the ever-changing weather, the default condition, we hurried on with our journey at an average speed of 130km/h. A bit fast, but it's hard to go slower because of the good road conditions and fewer vehicles.

Finishing the first quarter of the drive, we arrived at a dock on Qinghai Lake. It kept raining. We were just short of luck to see a panoramic scene. But we got something else instead.

There were a couple of Tibetan-style tents on the lakeside. They are actually the rooms of a hostel. The owner, Suo Bas was an acquaintance of our driver, Lao Wang, a CRI Qinghai correspondent.

We were invited into his house, built on the lakefront. It seems Tibetan ethnic people never tire of hospitality. They served us local milk tea and sanzi¡ªflour-made stick-shaped cookies¡ªand started a warm conversation with us.

The host Suo Ba, in his 40s, speaks good Mandarin. He said the tents outside were already hired out. It's a major source of income for the family. In addition, Suo Ba has over 200 heads of sheep. But he said things have worsened over the last two or three years--over 1,000 heads of his sheep have died from pollution. Pollution even here--beyond expectations. Fresh air, green grassland, that's what we saw on our way. Where does the pollution come from then?

Suo Ba was a bit frustrated. It seems to be a dilemma for him--he wants to see more tourists coming in, hoping to make some more money. But the downside of the story pops up as well. "The sheep eat too many plastic bags thrown away by holidaymakers because they taste sweet," Suo Ba said. "However, these bags are indigestible, resulting in so many deaths." A single head of sheep is worth several hundred yuan or RMB--quite a lot.

I noticed the kitchen stove where Suo Ba's wife was making tea for us. They don't use any coal here. Instead, local households use sheep excrement as fuel for heating up and cooking as well. Suo Ba said because of the high cost of transportation, raw materials in many parts on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau cannot be easily transported in or out of the region.

Therefore, alternative fuels become a must for them, which save them a lot of money.

After the Qinghai-Tibet Railway opens, Lhasa will be linked with Xining and other major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu. It is expected to allow people to travel more conveniently and reduce transport costs for materials for people living along the route.

CRIENGLISH
Qiu Wei