Lhasa is a city overflowed with happiness and bliss. Looking down from the sky, mountains towered high above, pure rivers, and picturesque valleys, the mushrooming high-rises and Tibet-styled villas as well as intensive road network reaching out to vast rural areas. Those massive engineering works, shining like resplendent pearls, are widely seen in this bustling city with a great leapfrog development.

The tough problem, which was questioned by the great poet Du Fu as early as in Tang Dynasty “How could I get tens of thousands of houses to shelter the poor under heaven and make them beam with big smile?” has found concrete solution in Lhasa.

Solicit solutions from the locals to find breakthrough of new rural construction.

Bidding farewell to the old house they have lived for more than ten years, Ci Ren, an old native of Langzhong Group of Yangda Village of Yangda Town of Duilongdeqing County, moved together with his family into a lofty and massive new house, in which, the family started to enjoy a happy life with a house surrounded by flower garden in front and vegetable garden in the rear. “We used to live in a small wooden house with poor light inside. I have dreamed to build a new house for my family for long. But it remained a dream beyond my reach since we could not afford it. Now, with the government-subsidized housing project, we live in a house even more beautiful than those of old manor owners. To us, the offspring of serfs, all these huge changes are simply beyond our wildest imagination.” The simple words said by 69 years old Ci Ren, may be seen that the common aspirations of farmers and herdsmen in Lhasa.

Only five years ago, more than 80% of local farmers and herdsmen like Ci Ren were still crowded in old houses built a decade ago. Due to the poor economy, most of these houses are narrow spaces with simple inner structure. Many houses has dilapidated through years of neglect with annoying problems like leakage of rain and wind or seriously damaged houses.

To live in comfortable house was both a burning desire and elusive dream for many local people like Ci Ren.

Facing the new situation, new goals, new tasks, and new requirement, the Tibet Autonomous Region firmly made the decisions that launch Comfortable Housing Project as the breakthrough, press forward to new socialist rural construction.

Lhasa, as the capital city, has gone all out to respond actively to the initiatives advocated by the provincial government. In order to show the highest respect to the time-honored living style of local people and win more support and enthusiastic participation from them, Lhasa Municipal Government was targeted to delivering its residents with comfortable new houses with strong ethnical flavors. For such purposes, the government has dispatched officials to make a visit to the vast farming and stockbreeding areas for missions like informing of the locals about the detailed regulations of the Comfortable Housing Project, providing them with bilingual (mandarin and Tibet languages) publicity leaflets, and soliciting opinions from them about the new houses they desire.

Based on feedbacks, Lhasa municipal government works out a scientific and systematic plan by taking all factors concerning the long-term development of rural areas like economy, culture, traffic, electricity and water conservancy facilities into consideration. For example, in terms of house design, as shown by the engineering drawings, different house types were designed to cater to the real diverse demands of local people. In addition to paying respect to local custom and life habits, the new housing project also paid special attention to improve the living environment of the local by adopting measures like making the living space of family members and livestock, as well as kitchen and bedrooms rationally separated. In terms of planning consideration, efforts have been done to ensure new house development seamless combined with problems shooting for scenes normally visible in local villages, like dispersed architecture deployment, vacant buildings, insufficient infrastructure, chaotic living environment, so as to set aside enough space for future project expansion. In terms of environmental protection, the project was strictly prohibited from occupying either plowland or grassland. Also, great efforts have been made for R&D of new environmental material so as to guarantee the win-win success of Comfortable Housing Project and environmental protection. In terms of building technical assurance, experts from both home and abroad were invited to conduct demonstration for the project and ascertain technical standards, so as to provide anti-seismic protection technologies for local people and enhance house anti-seismic performance.

With the joint efforts from all walks of life in Lhasa, all these good-willing and people-first conceptions have been put into reality step by step along the riverside of Lhasa.

During the 11th Five-Year Plan duration, 39510 farmers and herdsmen families have moved to government-subsidized new houses, among which, 6760 of poverty alleviation relocations, 304 of local aliment remedy relocations, and 30321 of rural residency relocation. In total, the Comfortable Housing Project covers an area of 655,900 square meters, with household and individual floor areas up to 166 square meters and 30 square meters respectively. About 80%, namely 242,800 local farmers and herdsmen families have moved into safe and cozy new houses in Lhasa.

From these data, we can see clearly that these people-first policies in Lhasa have brought harmonious social atmosphere and tangible benefits to local people

More innovative ways have been tapped for a richer and happier life

“Comfortable Housing Project is not only to solve the housing problem facing local farmers and herdsmen for long, but one important way to make sure that local people live happily”, noted Qi Zhala, the Secretary of Lhasa Municipal Party Committee.

In fact, at the same time when the Comfortable Housing Project was kicked off, concrete efforts were also made by Lhasa government to help local people make a living in a satisfactory way. By now, based on surplus local labor, 340 construction teams of 25716 practitioners, and 59 carpenter and painter teams of 1553 practitioners have come into being to make the best use of their talent. Besides, 56,000 local farmers and herdsmen have been trained with enhanced labor skills and cash income. Livestock cultivation bases also have been introduced to densely settled areas under Comfortable Housing Project like Linzhou, Dazi, Mozhugongka counties, where local people engaged in fish, duck, cattle and sheep short-term fattening projects with more income secured. In order to generate more fortune from its long-standing famous brand of Gurong Zanba, Duilongdeqing County has set up two Zanba companies, two cattle farms and one chicken farm in densely resettled areas around Gurong. These newly built facilities have now become source of income to more than 1000 local people.

Now freeing from worry for residency, local farmers and herdsmen in Lhasa can put much more effort and money into development to production, and they are increasingly keen on income increase. The farming and stockbreeding areas are overflowed with passion and vitality for a better life.

As driven by Comfortable Housing Project, villagers in Gaba Village of Najin Town of Chengguan District of Lhasa City have built elegant new houses for themselves. Still, they have more things to busy with. In virtue of their vicinity to Lhasa city, Gaba villagers start to involve in tourism sector. For example, in addition to a splendid self-use purposed house, a villager Ba Sang even built a family inn in the vacant lot in front of their house. In good days, the family inn business can bring them a daily income more than RMB500.

“With house no longer as our mental concern and worry, I am preoccupied now with how to find ways to improve income and bring better life to my family”, revealed Ba Sang, who shared the same wish as his peers of new house owners.

“The eight spoke wheel like sky reveals the land below is a blessed one; the eight petal lotus like land indicates it is a birthplace of endless fortune; the auspicious emblem like mountain demonstrate there are surrounded by a prosperous land” the conclusion made by Wen Cheng Princess about 1300 years ago, after she observed the astronomical phenomena and geography of Lhasa upon her settlement are also like predictive blessing for the beautiful future of the magic land. Lhasa is no longer merely the holly land of Buddha worship. It is also a convincing sample of new socialist countryside featuring “rural development, affluent life, cultivated countryside, clean and tidy village and democratic governance”.

Lhasa now is glowing with green prosperity. Under the roof of row upon row of new houses with strong local flavor are faces beaming with sunshine smiles. With what they have learned from their personal experience, these simple and pure people are convinced with the belief that “to follow up the leadership of Communist Party as one member of the big family, and to stick to the path with Chinese and Tibet characteristics is the only way leading to a vibrant today and beautiful tomorrow for them.”(Geng Duo)