Though winter here is a little bit freezing in Lhasa, the local farmers and herdsmen’s life is still as bustling as before. Gang-jian Diced Meat Mom Restaurant, a popular two-layer eatery in Tibetan style located in Riduo Village of Mozhugongka County, was packed with local people, who cuddled around a warm furnace, exchanging, over fragrant buttered tea and diced meat soup made of the superior local yak meat, information about business and the latest investment news…Riduo village, standing at an elevation of 4280 meters, is home to 528 households. As beneficiaries to the national policies launched during recently years to improve the living standards of people settled along the National Highway No. 318, residents here have been offered with more chances to make a better life. Now, endowed with fortune-making opportunities generated by the “Golden Passage” as well as favorable national and local policies, these farmers-turned-businessmen have left out-dated carriage behind, driving cars towards a well-to-do life.

Renqin Sangmu is the owner of the eatery. In addition to tending the eatery, her family with four members is also busy running a yoghourt plant, a gravel plant, and some contracted constructional engineering projects. Now, the income of the diligent family is no less than RMB0.5 million every year. “We are totally occupied with our ever-growing business. Our income gets doubled year by year. Money simply keeps pouring in every single day”, while kneading the dough, the lady reveals her fortune-amassing story with a big grin.

In one district and seven counties of Lhasa City, there are still many businessmen who formerly were peasants like Renqin Sangmu.

Dangxiong County is the sole county depending on grassland farming in Lhasa City. People here have lived on grazing for generations. At previous, pasture and livestock were what people had here. Gradually, life becomes more colorful in this remote place. As living in vicinity to Lake Nam – the Sacred Lake in the pure land, almost half of local herdsmen resort to selling tourism products as their part-time job. Their part-time business spans from peddling handcraft jewelry, headbands, Tibet wool, yak meat, yoghourt, to running tent restaurant and providing tourists with interactive entertainment of “intimate encounters with lamb”. These people are good at making the best out of what they have in the blessed land to foster a distinctive economic pattern.

As inspired by new ideas and the favorable policies extended by the government, many local herdsmen has made themselves into millionaire businessmen over the past years. In addition to changing their own fate with diligence and wisdom, these forerunners also set examples for their peers to follow. They not only help their peers to turn to a new life style, but command new skills to build better life. Under the positive influence of such bellwethers, the living standards of local people have been substantially improved. Da Wa, a resident from Jiagen Village of Dangxiong County, is one of such bellwethers.

Starting his life from scratch by working as a manual laborer, the guy has established himself as the tycoon of a business empire including supermarkets, restaurants, and construction engineering projects. Thanks to his dogged efforts in pursuit of happiness, Da Wa has not only brought a happy life to himself but many poverty-stricken villagers.

Though being a successful businessman already, Dawa still has a deep bond with his beloved pastoral life in meadow. The livestock output in his family’s meadow is still as abundant as before. Of course, the handsome subsidies the family can get from government for sticking to livestock raising activities and maintaining an eco-friendly lush meadow are also a driving force for their devotions to livestock cultivation.

In four straight years, the output of livestock products like meat, poultry and eggs in Lhasa has maintained a strong growth momentum. People here also enjoy a much improved life. At present, a bliss family life with car, house and countless livestock is no long the “ultimate dream” of herdsmen in Lhasa. How to earn “the first bucket of gold” has become the most intriguing topic explored by locals.