Troops save lives on 'roof of the world'

Members of the People's Armed Police Force spend their working lives repairing dangerous roads and safeguarding travelers. Zhang Yangfei reports from Nyingchi, Tibet autonomous region.

Editor's note: This is the third in a series of stories about the Tibet autonomous region, focusing on the area's history, the cultural and business sectors and poverty alleviation measures.

Imagine driving along a narrow mountain road where one side is a wall of rocks that could tumble down at any minute and the other is a steep drop into a deep, fast-flowing river.

The unfenced road, rugged, mud-slicked and about 2,000 meters above sea level, only allows one car to pass at a time and when drivers tackle hairpin bends, they cannot see any ground, just a broad expanse of sky.

This is not an imaginary scenario; until relatively recently, it was the terrifying reality along a 20-kilometer section of road linking Bomi county and Bayi township in Nyingchi city in the southeast of the Tibet autonomous region, often known as "the roof of the world".