Jan.11, 2024 -- For Fang Shanzhi, an employee of State-owned builder China Railway No 4 Engineering Group Co Ltd, building an expressway in the Xizang autonomous region has made his life fruitful and rewarding over the past few years.

 

In June 2018, Fang and his colleagues arrived in Rinpung county to help construct the Lhasa-Shigatse Expressway — part of the east-west artery Yaan-Yecheng Expressway — whose main construction was completed on Dec 5.

 

As Party secretary of the CREC4 project department in Rinpung, he has worked with more than 400 Tibetan farmers and herdsmen on the CREC4 task, and leased more than 300 sets of machinery and equipment from the local people, offering them an opportunity to earn more than 20 million yuan ($2.73 million).

 

In June 2021, Fang received a phone call from Pasang Gyatso, government head of Chewa township where his project department is based, requesting him to join Thubten, then government head of Rinpung county, on the rostrum for a local celebration.

 

Seeing the Tibetans dance and sing wholeheartedly, Fang thought the work that CREC4 staff members had done to help the local residents had been rewarding, and that they would be happier after the fully opened expressway offers an easier mobility option.

 

According to Zhang Zhengrong, Fang's colleague who is the chairman of the project department's trade union, during the local Saga Dawa Festival and Sho Dun Festival (yogurt festival) each year, the local residents would invite them for a grand gala to enjoy the folk performances and taste the local cuisine.

 

By presenting Khata — an auspicious ceremonial silk fabric marking a show of respect — to CREC4 employees, they would express their warmest welcome and gratitude to the guests.

 

Zhang said that while celebrating the anniversary of the founding of the Xizang autonomous region, villagers at Chewa township also invited the CREC4 builders, helping to solidify their friendship.

 

 

During each Mid-Autumn Festival, the Tibetans also invited the CREC4 employees — who worked far away from their hometowns and could not get back for family reunions during the traditional festival — to their homes for a get-together, he said, adding that he was touched by the gesture.

 

Wang Hao, a staffer at the publicity department of CREC4 Second Engineering Co Ltd, which sends the builders to Xizang for construction work, said his colleagues have forged a deep bond with the local Tibetan residents during the course of their work.

 

On Oct 1, the Tibetan residents in Dingdrong village of Bome county, which is administered by Nyingchi prefecture, invited the CREC4 builders working nearby for a celebration to spend the National Day holiday.

 

At the start of the event, the Tibetans presented Khatas to the CREC4 builders, expressing their deep thanks for the construction work.

 

The Tibetan villagers and the CREC4 builders jointly carried out a number of cultural and sports events with unique Tibetan features, such as holding sandbags, a tug of war and high-altitude basketball matches, attracting much mirth from the spectators.

 

The enjoyable moments made them blend in amid colorful flowers with the snowy mountains and grasslands in the background, Wang said.

 

Feng Jun, an official at the CREC4 project department, said, "We need to create a favorable external environment for promoting smooth and stable construction here."

 

He said the event boosted ethnic ties of "the Han people and the Tibetan people being one big family" and created a harmonious atmosphere.