Tibetan New Year marked with joy and hope

Singpori is on the north bank of the Yarlung Zangbo River in the city of Shannan, located at an altitude of 3,600 meters. It is only some 10 km from the Lhasa airport. In addition to residences, the community also has access to a newly-built hospital, kindergartens and schools, a market and a recreation center.

In July 2022, Tibet launched the second phase of the high-altitude ecological relocation to Singpori. The program aimed to eventually relocate nearly 10,000 people from the counties of Tsonyi, Amdo and Nyima, with an average altitude of over 4,500 meters, to Singpori.

In that same month, Tashi Phuntsog's family of five moved to the Singpori and was allocated a two-story house covering 119 square meters.

In 2020, Tashi Phuntsog graduated from Harbin Medical University in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. After graduation, he was admitted to the People's Hospital of Tsonyi County, and sent for standardized training at the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University in east China's Zhejiang Province.

"I haven't spent the Tibetan New Year with my family for three years. This year, I took a month's leave to be with my family for the festival," he said. He has begun to bear all the household expenses as he now earns a decent income from his work as a doctor.

"When we moved in, the house was already equipped with facilities such as water and electricity. In January, I spent 40,000 yuan on the decoration of our home and bought pieces of furniture including Tibetan-style beds and tables," he said.