Massive renovation gives city a facelift
When the neon lights begin reflecting on the waters of the Zachu and Ngomchu rivers every evening, Chamdo city resident Yongxi takes a stroll on the streets and in the parks near the rivers.
The 56-year-old woman said she developed the hobby during the past decade.
“The evening Chamdo is especially charming,” Yongxi said. She noted that the development of the city over the decades has brought great changes to the lives of local residents.
Seeing the rising buildings and the booming commerce of this riverside city, Yongxi said life is more convenient than before.
“This is totally different from what it was a decade ago, when the city was full of bungalows and failures in electricity and water supplies happened frequently,” she said. “Now most of the residents are living in apartment buildings and there are schools, hospitals and supermarkets in their neighborhood.”
Chamdo, which means “the confluence of two rivers” inTibetan, is a city in the east of the Tibet autonomous region.
Situated at an average altitude of 11,480 feet, the city has a land area of about 42,500 square miles, covering one district and 10 counties.
Known for its spectacular mountains separated by the three parallel rivers of Jinsha (the upper section of Yangtze), Lancang (Mekong) and Nujiang (Salween), Chamdo is one of the important tourist destinations in Tibet.
Its long history and brilliant culture also add to its touristic charm.
Kharub district, the urban center of Chamdo, has been an important hub of Chamagudao, also known as the Tea Horse Road, the southern Silk Road that has linked Southwest China and the South Asia and Southeast Asia regions for more than a millennium. Most trade caravans departed from Yunnan
and Sichuan provinces and then passed through Chamdo to Lhasa and later traveled onward to India and Nepal.
Boasting an ancient history and its strategic position in trade, Chamdo is the center of the economy, culture and transportation in eastern Tibet.
However, as it nestles in the deep valleys, isolated by rivers and mountains, the development of urban Chamdo, or Kharub, had been constrained by limited land resources and poor road connectivity, according to Huo Yingzhang, an official at the Chamdo bureau of housing and urban construction.
Huo said a massive renovation project for Kharub began in 2012.
“Because of our limited land resources, we conducted scientific planning before relocating residents to new apartment buildings for this renovation project.”
The official said the government of Chamdo invited experts from across the country to map out plans according to the city’s development orientation, population scale and existing resources.
“The efforts of the experts have led to a scientific zoning plan for the city, with a commercial center, an administrative center, a cultural center and a logistics center formed in the Changduba, Yunnanba, Macaoba and Sichuanba areas respectively,” Huo said.
The massive relocation project has been implemented to make space for the construction of taller apartment buildings, which can accommodate more residents and feature better facilities for water, gas and electricity supply, according to local officials.
With land saved by the relocation project, 27 new roads, with a total length of 19 miles, have been added to Kharub.
Yongxi moved to an apartment in the Gyangkar community. With a total floor space of 2,124 square feet, she said her five-bedroom apartment was offered by the government for free.
In addition, her family was also provided with a housing subsidy of 130,000 yuan ($20,344).
Qing Zhengdong, a government official in Chamdo, said the city’s development over the decade is “amazing”.
“The total area of downtown Chamdo was only 1.8 square miles 10 years ago, and now it has increased almost three times,” Qing said.
A larger city and increasing population have also created more business opportunities, local residents said.
Gao Yuan from neighboring Sichuan province operates a restaurant in Kharub.
“Thanks to an improving environment and increasing population, my business has grown steadily over the past eight years,” Gao said. “Now the sales revenue is about 800 yuan a day on average.”