Monasteries in Shigatse will be Served with Highway in the Near Future

A project aims at improving the living level of Buddhists in monasteries and proving convenience for tourists was launched in Shigatse this year. The project aimed at making hundreds of monasteries in Shigatse be served with well conditioned highway was launched on June 21st, 2012.

This project involves a total investment of 0.161 billion RMB and will construct highway to 120 monasteries in various sizes in Shigatse Prefecture. The total length of the planning highways reaches 260.46 kilometers. The relevant department said that they are planning to finish this project before October 30th 2012. This project involved 18 counties and 72 towns and villages in Shigatse Prefecture.

In 2013, Shigatse Prefecture will start the construction of the highways to 109 monasteries. The relevant department is planning to invest 0.173 billion RMB and the planning highway project enjoys a total length of 577.2 kilometers. All these planning highways will be put into operation in the end of 2013.

It is reported that there are 341 monasteries and religious sites in Shigatse Prefecture. Most of them are located at the remote high mountains, canyons and cliffs. 229 monasteries of them are not served by highways yet. Some people are worried that the construction of the highways to the monasteries might destroy the natural environment and violate the local folk customs. Actually, the plan and construction of the highways to the monasteries will fully respect the local folk traditions and attach great importance on the environment protection.

Shigatse Prefecture is an important tourism region in Tibet. Various monasteries have been the most attractive scenic spots for domestic and foreign tourists interested in Tibetan culture. The famous Tashilhunpo Monastery and Sakya Monastery in Shigate Prefecture would receive a large number of tourists every day during the high season of Tibet tourism.