• Visit to the rooftop of the worlds

The Tibet autonomous region is, after Xinjiang, the second largest in China. Historically, geographically and culturally, it is a unique area, isolated for much of its history from the outside world by the mountains that constitute most of its land area. The average height above sea level for the TAR is 4,000m, with an international boundary 3,842km long and internal boundaries with the provinces of Xinjiang, Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan.

While the TAR might be in the most populous country in the world, it itself is one of the most sparsely populated areas on the planet, with 2.6m people spread over an area approximately the same size as France. Official statistics state that 2.4m (over 90 per cent) of these people are ethnically Tibetan, with the remainder made up of Han and other minorities. Currently, TAR is divided into six districts, with 73 cities, towns and other units. Lhasa is the provincial capital, and Shigatse the second largest urban area. The mainsprings of the Tibetan economy from time immemorial have been agricultural and herding.

Getting there
Tibet has been one of the most inaccessible areas in the world, and even today there are only two available means of travelling to Lhasa: air and road. The road route from Xining, in Qinghai province, serviced by non-stop sleeper buses, takes 36 hours (without mishap; days more if the bus breaks down!).

The other road route from Chengdu takes three nights and two days. There are also roads from Nepal and Xinjiang, though the latter are reputedly some of the most difficult and dangerous in the world, and pass through restricted border areas.

Currently, the only other option is the air links to cities in China (mainly Chengdu in Sichuan, an hour-and-a-half daily flight), and Xining in Qinghai (an hour and a half, twice a week). The Chengdu-Lhasa route is served by an Airbus A340 with Rolls-Royce engines (probably the largest single UK-related business in Tibet) run by China Southwest Airlines. One international service is also run between Kathmandu and Lhasa, which takes an hour.

Visitors to Tibet will learn that the monopoly on the air links into the region make for expensive air ticket prices (Kathmandu-Lhasa costs over US$250) something that even local officials admit places constraints on the numbers of travellers wishing to come to the region.

The ticket from Beijing (which makes a stop-off in Chengdu to pick more passengers up) currently costs Yn4,080 return (about £350) for the three-and-a-half hour flight - this compared to off-season prices back to Europe of only a couple of thousand yuan more.

Tibet also used to be very hard to get to. Travellers would have to be part of official tour groups to visit the region - even if, in practice, the payment of a small fee to a tourist agency in Chengdu, Beijing or Xining to set up an "ad hoc"; group that dissolved the moment it reached its destination helped to overcome this difficulty.

As from 1st January this year, the requirement for special permits to visit the region has been lifted (with the exception of some of the remoter areas), which should pave the way for more travellers.

Tourism
Tourism is important to the region. Last year, it received 700,000 "visitors";, according to the bureau for tourism, but the local foreign affairs office confirmed that these broke down into 180,000 "non-Mainland visitors"; and the remainder domestic tourists. Of the 180,000, 120,000 were Taiwanese or from Hong Kong, and the remaining 60,000 from elsewhere.

International tourism, albeit depressed due to the after-effects of the September 11th attacks in the US, is still very undeveloped in TAR, and offers the biggest potential for growth. Tibet is, after all, world-famous, and has strong recognition. It contains some of the most stunning and epic scenery in the world, and, within the local culture, has one of the most fascinating mixtures of religious and nomadic cultures.

One project that will impact on tourism growth by making access easier is the train link currently being constructed from Qinghai to Lhasa. This project has been in the planning stages for many years, and indeed was thought, until recently, to be impossible because it would involve building tunnels through sheer ice. It seems that these problems have now been surmounted, and the track will pretty much follow the current road from Xining to Lhasa.

Originally planned for completion in 2006, the State Council and Premier Zhu Rongji have insisted that the project meet the strictest environmental standards, which will increase the projected construction time by one year.

Already a space has been allocated, and work begun, for the train terminal in western Lhasa. When complete, this will be one of the great train journeys in the world, ranking with the Trans-Siberian. Its economic impact should also be significant.

There are also current plans to build new airports in the remoter areas of the region, to accommodate regional jets. Lhasa and Bangda are currently the two main airports, and last year saw half a million passengers.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC) the region saw the biggest single increase in air passenger traffic (20 per cent rise in 2001 over 2000, compared to a national average of 7-8 per cent). They are optimistic about this growth continuing this year. Lhasa airport itself is undergoing its third expansion. Both these projects, and the rail link, will be supported by central government funding.

Lhasa
Lhasa has a population of 200,000. At 3,700m above sea level it is the highest city on earth. For those arriving by air, the first 24 hours or so, because of the short time to acclimatise to the high altitude, can cause headaches, lack of breath and sometimes other complications. This is not a city where you can arrive and start a gruelling slog of meetings, activity and sightseeing. Time is needed to get used to the unique city environment.

Lhasa airport is 100km by road from the city centre. This is simply due to the lack of enough flat space to accommodate a runway and terminal nearer to the city. The journey to the airport should be reduced by 30km with the construction of a direct road across mountains in the next three years.

The journey, both by plane into the airport, and from the airport to the city, takes in some spectacular scenery, going by mountains and rivers (with incredible blue, clean water), and by tiny villages with traditional Tibetan houses.

Lhasa itself is divided into the older city around the Jokhang Temple, and the new city spreading out around it. Similar to Ulaan Baator in the Republic of Mongolia in some ways, it is a compact city, built around the Potala Palace which dominates it so dramatically, and two or three main streets. People who have revisited the city after even a relatively short period of two to three years recently have been impressed by the increase in the number of stores, restaurants, and in the variety of fruit and vegetables available in the city. Some of this is sourced from greenhouses locally, and some brought in from neighbouring provinces.

Unlike many other Chinese cities, Lhasa has a relatively clean environment. That's because it has little, if any, heavy industry, and the use of natural gas in the winter (again imported). It seems the traditional Tibetan fuel of yak dung cannot be spread to a city of from 200,000 to 400,000 people!

In the Potala Palace and the Jokhang Temple, Lhasa has two world-class heritage sights, both with long histories, the first of which must rank as one the architectural marvels of the world, perched on natural rocks and soaring above the city below, with over a thousand rooms. Looking from its rooftop terraces down over the city and the mountains around is one of the most breathtaking scenes in Asia.

The Jokhang Temple, with over a thousand years of history, is the scene for extraordinary pilgrimages and human drama, with an astonishing array of people, faces and clothes styles.

Lhasa has a surprising array of restaurants (from Tibetan, through Sichuanese, to Western style - even Thai), and adequate hotels. The Himalaya Hotel, where I stayed, was a perfectly acceptable three-star hotel, which was clean and served reasonable food. There are two four-star hotels, the Lhasa Hotel (formerly the Holiday Inn, before they withdrew in 1997) and the Grand Metropolitan, but they get mixed reviews for service. There are a host of budget hotels, but the lack of a recognised quality hotel might need to be addressed before attracting higher-spending tourists.

Commercial environment
Tibet is a beneficiary of the "Opening Up the West"; policies, and offers incentives to outside investors. Although it receives a good deal of central aid as an undeveloped area, however, the investment environment here has unique problems and issues not found in other areas of China.

The local department of foreign trade and economic cooperation (DOFTEC) statistics state that Tibet's economy increased 12 per cent last year, and should continue this over the course of the current five-year plan. The focus is on developing transport links, a local services and insurance market, and strengthening agriculture and local handicraft production (which makes up the bulk of Tibet's exports at present). But this still ranks as one of the least developed areas of China, and its remoteness and specific characteristics (environmental and other) offer unique challenges.

According to DOFTEC, there are 123 foreign companies active in TAR, but currently no British companies (after the withdrawal of Holiday Inn in 1997). The bulk of this figure is probably Nepalese companies importing religious items into the region, and possibly some Taiwanese and Hong Kong SAR investments. Save the Children undertakes valuable and highly respected aid work in the area with the local population. There are also similar EU programmes.

The bulk of economic activity is through domestic companies or centrally funded.

It is clear that sustainable development and environmental protection have a critical role to play in this region.

This is a unique area, with a very specific identity and feel, and somewhere that the more adventurous would find rewarding to get to and experience at first hand. Like so many other places in Asia, the following years will no doubt see changes and developments. But hopefully the extraordinary environment and atmosphere of the region will be preserved.

Kerry Brown works in the commercial section of the British Embassy in Beijing.