STORY: Village tourism in Xizang ushers in spring amid peach blossom viewing
SHOOTING TIME: April 1, 2024
DATELINE: April 19, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:08
LOCATION: LHASA, China
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the peach blossoms and the tourists
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): MARIA, Tourist from Russia
3. various of the peach blossoms
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Tibetan): QOTSERING, Villager, Galai Village
5. various of the peach blossoms

STORYLINE:

Peach blossoms are now in full bloom in Galai Village of Nyingchi City, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. Every year, the village's peach blossom festival which opens in late March attracts many tourists throughout the country and even abroad.

With vast numbers of mostly wild peach trees nestled among snow-capped mountains, Galai Village is known for its picturesque views.
   
The unique landscape has become a cultural and economic symbol of the plateau region. 

From January to March this year, Nyingchi received nearly 2.31 million tourist visits, with total tourism income topping 2 billion yuan (about 281.58 million U.S. dollars).
   
SOUNDBITE 1 (English): MARIA, Tourist from Russia
"That's beautiful and incredible of these flowers. I'm in love with the region and China in general."
  
Local villagers have witnessed the income increase brought to the village by the boom in flower viewing. 

To make the place more attractive to visitors, they in the past few years have begun to plant peach trees in the surrounding wasteland. At present, about 8,000 peach trees have been planted.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Tibetan): QOTSERING, Villager, Galai Village
"In the past, we relied on logging and selling the timber to make a living, but excessive logging led to landslides, leaving the mountains barren and bringing many problems. It was hard to improve living conditions. Now, with the policies, we have realized that we could no longer log trees, so we began to protect these peach trees."  

In 1998, Galai villagers earned 2,000 yuan from tourism. By contrast, 2023 saw over 110,000 tourist visits to savor the peach blossoms, with revenue for scenic spot tickets and tourists' additional consumption topping 3.41 million yuan.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Lhasa, China.
(XHTV)