On the morning of August 21, at the historic moment of the 60th anniversary celebration of the founding of the Tibet autonomous region, the whistle of the Fuxing EMU train pierced through the morning mist of the Himalayas, delivering the loudest blessings to the snowy plateau. This steel dragon has witnessed the historic transformation of a nation and a region from isolation to openness, from poverty to prosperity.
Railway development has completely changed the difficulty of travel in Tibet. With its operating mileage growing from zero to over 1,000 km, the railway has improved from diesel locomotives to Fuxing EMU trains, from manual maintenance to intelligent inspection. Among Tibet's seven prefecture-level cities, five are now connected by railway. Travel time from Nagqu to Lhasa has been shortened to less than three and a half hours, with a ticket price of only 50.5 yuan; Xining to Lhasa takes about 21 hours; Lhasa to Shigatse can be reached in as fast as 2 hours and 20 minutes; and travel time between Lhasa and Nyingchi has been reduced to less than 4 hours. As of the end of July this year, direct trains from Lhasa Railway Station have reached 14 provincial capital cities nationwide, with a coverage rate of 45.16%. The Golmud-Lhasa section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway has handled a total of 46.895 million passengers traveling to and from Tibet.
Railways have also become the "golden key" to economic transformation. After railway lines opened, the tourism sector flourished. In Milin city, the Zhibai village, once dependent on yaks for transporting goods, now has 28 homestays. A Tibetan girl named Deji runs the "Cloud Inn," with an average annual income of over 150,000 yuan. Data show that since the opening of the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway, tourism revenue in Nyingchi and other areas has grown by more than 30% annually. In the first half of 2025, Tibet received 32.1828 million tourists, up 11.7% year-on-year, a record high. In addition to boosting tourism, railways have driven a transformation in the economic model. Logistics costs have been significantly reduced, enabling products such as Tibetan mineral water, yak jerky and Tibetan incense to be quickly distributed nationwide, while inland goods flow continuously into Tibet. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway and Lhasa-Shigatse Railway have become "golden corridors" connecting China with the South Asian market.
Railways also serve as a "bridge of hearts" that strengthens ethnic unity. Every year, more than 5 million visitors from the inland of China travel to Tibet by train, while more and more Tibetan youth take trains inland to start businesses. Elements of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau characteristics and Tibetan culture can be seen everywhere onboard. The "Sky Road Gesang Flower" service brings warmth to passengers of all ethnic groups. Train attendants and passengers exchange languages and share food, while train conductors have received 365 khatas, testifying to genuine mutual assistance. "This railway measures the depth of ethnic unity with '365 Tashi Deleks,'" as one sociologist put it. When trains shuttle between sacred mountains and lakes, and passengers of different ethnic groups admire the scenery together, the consciousness of a shared Chinese national identity quietly takes root.
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