Dbyangscan, a villager of the first telephone village, Gongzhong Village of Bayi Township in Nyingchi Prefecture at the entrance
Volunteers of environment protection in Xining are taking group photo at the launch ceremony
To reply the call on making quality cultural programs by TAR relevant departments, Tibet singing and dancing group is starting dress rehearsal of "Tibet In The Sky" after one month preparation. The program will be taken as visit performance in eastern European countries after granted and possibly become regular program of the group.
The "Tibet In The Sky" is an essential and combination of most popular and famous Tibetan festivals and custom such as Shoton Festival, also known as Sour Milk Drinking Festival, Northern Tibet Horse Racing Festival, Ongkor Festival (Bumper Harvest Festival), Tashilhunpo (A Tibetan religion art performance in Tashilhunpo Monastery every year). It's a mirror to reflect Tibetan folk and custom as well as embodiment of social history development. It describes the great changes since the peaceful liberation of Tibet to represent the new life and look of Tibetan led by CPC and let the world to better understand new Tibet through Tibetan culture.
Lhunzhub Government yard after virescence
Lhunzhub house in spring
Suzhou New Village in Lhunzhub County
Lhunzhub locals are busy with road construction
Organized by the TAR Sports Bureau and Alwaysone Century Sports Corporation, the 2007 Qomolangma Clean-up Campaign news reporters set out for Xining, capital of the Qinghai Province for news covering in the following days with the Qomolangma Clean-up Campain.
Farmers from Tingri County of Tibet are planting Qingke
Farmers from Namling County of Tibet is planting QingkeBy Shanghai Daily
The Olympic flame will be carried to the top of Mt. Qomolangma (Everest) next year as the major highlight of the torch relay for the 2008 Beijing games, organizers said.
The traditional journey of the Olympic flame is scheduled to be the longest in the event's history, tracing a route that covers five continents.
At a ceremony attended by senior members of China's Communist Party and the International Olympic Committee, organizers said the journey will cover 137,000 kilometers and last 130 days.
Organizers estimated that more than 22,000 torch bearers will be involved in the globe-trotting parade.
"It will be a relay that will cover the longest distance and be most inclusive and involve the most people in Olympic history," said Liu Qi, head of Beijing's Olympic organizing committee.
The relay is the latest grand plan associated with an Olympics that organizers and IOC officials have said should set a new standard for the games.
"Most of China's citizens are looking forward and making preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. Most people in the world are looking forward to a successful Olympic games that can promote the friendship of people around the world," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a news conference.
The relay is a popular public-relations tool and the only contact most people have with the games.
As with all Olympics, next year's relay will begin in Greece and wind across the globe before it's used to ignite the cauldron at the opening ceremony on August 8, 2008, in Beijing's 91,000-seat Olympic Stadium. The China section will begin on May 1 when the flame arrives in Taipei, one of the 114 domestic cities on the route, which also includes Shanghai.
Other stops announced yesterday include Paris; San Francisco; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania; Islamabad, Pakistan; and Pyongyang, in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"The Beijing 2008 torch relay will, as its theme says, be a journey of harmony, bringing friendship and respect to people of different nationalities, races and creeds," IOC President Jacques Rogge told the ceremony.
"I have no doubt the Beijing 2008 Olympic torch relay will leave many extraordinary memories and create new dreams for people around the world." The relay's signature moment is expected to be its ascent to the summit of Mount Everest, which straddles China's Tibet and Nepal. A team of specially trained torch bearers plan to carry the flame on an ascent to the world's highest peak sometime in May, weather permitting.
Firing Up Tradition
The Olympic torch features a scroll-like design and a traditional "lucky cloud" motif.
Made of aluminum, it stands 72 centimeters tall and weighs 985 grams.
The torch construction is environmentally friendly. The materials are recyclable, and the propane fuel meets environmental requirements.
The torch casting was designed by the Lenovo Creative Center, and the flame system was designed by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Group.
A corner of Bayi Town in Nyingchi Prefecture, Tibet, photo from Xinhua, April 14
A corner of Bayi Town in Nyingchi Prefecture, Tibet, photo from Xinhua, April 14.
Cars are running on clean and tidy road, photo from Xinhua, April 14.The 2007 Mt. Qomolangma Clean-up Campaign also known as 2007 Mt. Everest Action At The Third Pole Of The Earth started in Beijing on April 22.
The action will be launched along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway and around the Qomolangma. Besides building daks for Qomolangma torch relaying of the 2008 Olympic Games, the volunteers will also donate to purchasing solar energy equipment for the highest sentry of China.
All the focuses of 2007 Mt. Qomolangma Clean-up Campaign will be environmental protection. The "Light Project" is to ensure the coming torch relay for Tibet Mountaineering Expedition by establishing daks and training bases. The "Sunshine Trip" is to light the highest sentry of China by advanced solar energy technology.
Lhasa Jokhang Temple is busy preparing for the upcoming Labor Day holiday. Two routes are made for warship people and tourists respectively as well as more than 40 direction signs to ensure tourists' safe visit.
Line drawing of Mt.Qomolangma. By Zhou Zheng
The India Measurement Team, organized by British government, was the first group to identify the height of Mt. Qomolangma. From 1848 to 1852, the team lead by George Everest and Andrew Waffle placed an optical mechanic measurement apparatus at Indian plain 100 miles away from Mt. Qomolangma, to conduct a measurement by taking the India Sea as the datum plane. The calculated elevation of Qomolangma was 8840 meters (about 29002 feet); making Qomolangma (Everest) the highest mountain in the world.
Chinese scientists re-measured the height of height of Mt.Qomolangma in 2005
At the onset of the 20th century, many countries, including China, adopted the system of barometry to measure Qomolangma, recalculating its peak height at 8882 meters. In 1949, an America surveyor claimed to have found that Mt. Anyemaqen was in fact 193 meters higher than Qomolangma, takings it place as the highest peak in the world, but his theory was soon dismissed. In 1954, based on the 1852 figure of the India National Measurement Bureau, Mt. Qomolangma was officially re-measured once again as 8847.6 meters.
On May 25 at 4:30 am of 1960, having suffered of 30 hours of insufficient oxygen and food shortage, Chinese mountaineers reached the peak of Qomolangma for the first time, taking their place in world mountaineering history. In 1975, nine Chinese mountaineers, including Tibetan female mountaineer, Madam Phentog, repeated the feat. On their trek, the group was able to ascertain a precise height measurement by placing a measurement mark at the peak and setting down ten control points for across an altitude range of 5600 to 7790 meters, crossly measuring the marks at the peak to come up with a height of 8848.13 meters.
In March 1987, newspapers in the United States and Italy reported that American astrologist had discovered through satellite data that China's Mt. Chogori peaked at 8859 meters, 11 meters higher than Qomolangma. That same year, however, experts lead by an Italian surveyor adopted a GPS measuring system to conclude that Mt. Qomolangma was 8872 meters, and Mt. Chogori was in fact only 8616 meters, confirming yet again that Mt. Qomolangma was still the highest mountain in the world.
Between May and October of 1992, experts from the United States and Italy individually measured the height of Qomolangma using a GPS measuring system and concluded that the figure of 8846.10 meters was most accurate, 2.03 meters less than data from China.
In 2005, Chinese scientists obtained new and accurate data: the bedrock on the top of Qomolangma was 8844.43 meters ??0.21 in height, and the depth of snow and ice at the top was 3.50 meters. Thereafter, the data issued in 1975 was no long used, and on October 9th, 2005, the newly agreed upon height of Qomolangma, as authorized by the State Department, was issued by the National Bureau of Surveying and Mapping according to the "Surveying and Mapping Law of the People's Republic of China."
The mountain shapes of Himalayas are especially giant and steep. Often referred to as the "High Himalayas,"five out of the fourteen highest mountains in the world (those with peaks reaching higher than 8000 meters) are located in this region - the fourth highest, Mt. Lhotse, with an elevation of 8501 meters is situated at the south side of Qomolangma, Mt. Makalu, the fifth highest at 8470 meters, sits at the east side, Mt. Cho Oyu, the seventh highest at 8153 meters is towards the west, and Mt. Shisabangma, the 14th and last highest peak is situated further westward, reaching a peak elevation of 8012 meters.
