Tourism takes off in Tibetan prefecture in NW China

Tourism in a remote Tibetan prefecture in northwest China took off in 2011, as over 2 million tourists visited the plateau rangeland, lakes, virgin forests, and a major Tibetan Buddhism monastery unique to the region, local officials said Saturday. Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu province had attracted 2.36 million tourists by the end of October, or the end of the peak tourist season, up 24 percent from the same period last year, prefecture tourism officials said. Tourism revenue hit 928 million yuan (about 146 million U.S. dollars) from January to October this year, a year-on-year rise of 31 percent, they added. Gannan, which borders Tibetan regions along with neighboring Sichuan and Qinghai provinces, is home to the sprawling 18th-century Labrang Monastery, regarded as a top Tibetan Buddhism educational institution in China. The number of tourists to the county of Xiahe, where Labrang Monastery is located, grew by 26.1 percent year-on-year to reach 475,000 by the end of October. The county also saw a 44.8-percent rise in tourism revenue. The county, about a five-hour drive from the provincial capital of Lanzhou, is also building an airport that will further boost tourism by linking it with major cities across the country.