Qamdo: Facts and Figures

BENGYI

Qamdo, in eastern Tibet, is located at an elevation of around 3,500 meters, extending 527 km east-west and 445 km south-north, and covering a total area of 108,700 square km. It exercises jurisdiction over 11 counties composed of 168 towns, with a total population of 550,000. The 110.86 million hectares of land includes 70,000 hectares of cultivated land (including 25,000 hectares of irrigated farmland), and 5,622,466 hectares of grasslands (including 4,533,333 hectares of grasslands being exploited).

Agriculture and Animal Husbandry

Output Value. In 1999, Qamdos GNP was 1,426.88 million Yuan. It produced 142,000 tons of grain, and 45,000 tons of meat. Domestic animals raised totaled 3.45 million head. Output value of agriculture and animal husbandry totaled 1,152.91 million Yuan, an increase of 23.89 percent over the previous year; the figure is expected to shoot up to 1,175.47 million Yuan in 2000. Per-Capita Income. In 1989, farmers and herders in the prefecture enjoy a per-capita income of 359.56 Yuan, compared to 82.19 Yuan in 1959 (representing a 4.4-fold increase). The figure was 715 Yuan in 1995 and 1,393 Yuan in 1999, and is expected to reach 1,456 Yuan in 2000 (which is a 50.89 percent increase from 1995).

Farm Machinery

Farm mechanization is well advanced. About 31.46 million hectares of farmland are ploughed and 39.86 million hectares sown with machines. A total of 3,940 irrigation ditches have been dug, totaling 6,100 km. They include 28 canals each irrigating over 60 hectares of farmland. There are 560 reservoirs and ponds, and 16 pump storage stations. Twelve farm machinery stations, nine ox stations, and 11 animal epidemic stations have been set up in 11 counties; forestry bureaus have been formed in seven counties; and forestry management administrations have been organized in four counties. There are also stations set up for the popularization of agro-technology. In addition, there are 121 farm and animal husbandry research institutes, experimental stations, breeding stock stations and seed stations.

Forestry Development

Qamdo Prefecture is the second largest forestry zone in Tibet, with 3.754 million hectares, a coverage rate of 23.9 per cent. Timber reserves total 167 million cubic meters. Over the past 50 years, Qamdo has produced more than 2 million cubic meters of commercial timber, 1.2 million cubic meters of timber for industrial production, and some 5 million cubic meters of timber used to make charcoal. By 1996, 1,200 hectares of trees were planted, totaling 2.6 million trees; five hectares of seedlings created; 40 hectares of economic forests and orchards developed; and 120,000 hectares of mountain slopes enclosed for tree planting.

Industry and Handicrafts

By the end of 1995, Qamdo saw the establishment of 56 power, building material, mining, machinery, leather processing, and automobile repair enterprises. In 1991, there were 21 enterprises that adopted the shareholding system, seven enterprises re-grouped, two enterprises declaring bankruptcy, two enterprises separated, and two enterprises sold out. In 1999, industrial output value reached 92.23 million Yuan, an increase of 23.98 percent from the previous year. The figure is expected to go up to 95 million Yuan in 2000. The same period saw fast development of the handicraft industry composed of pottery, metallic products and paper-making, wine production, leather products, building, salt mining, painting, carving, pharmaceutical and ink production. Major products include rugs, aprons, waist knives, wooden bowls, tangka paintings, pottery ware, butter kettles, saddles, gold and silver jewelry, as well as wooden, bamboo, willow branch and rattan objects, totaling some 100 kinds. A dozen of these, including tangka paintings and waist knives, have won the title of Quality Ethnic Products from the relevant departments of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The output value of ethnic handicrafts now reaches 10 million Yuan.

Energy

The Central Government has, since the 1960s, invested heavily in Qamdo for the construction of the Qamdo Power Station, Qamdo Dorlam Hydraulic Power Station, Torba Hydraulic Power Station, and 10 other facilities. Currently, Gonjor Raqu Hydraulic Power Station and Zogong Yuqu Hydraulic Power Station are being built. In Qamdo, there are two prefectural-level power stations, 10 county-level power stations, one township-level power station, and 48 rural-level power stations, with a combined installed generating capacity of 32,000 kW, basically meeting local needs.

Transportation

Some 50 years ago, Qamdo had no access to highways, and no automobiles were seen in the area. Nowadays, 11 counties, 94 percent of districts and townships, and over 60 percent of villages are connected by roads. In 1999 the highway mileage added up to 5,406 km, and good highways extended 1,528 km. Some 266,200 tons of goods and 161,000 people were transported by road. Bamda Airport, which is large enough to accommodate jumbo jets, has gone into service, with scheduled flights to Chengdu and Lhasa every week.

Postal Service and Telecom Business

Postal services developed apace in the 1990s. Thirty vehicles now cover postal routes of 8,928 km. In 2000, the postal service volume was expected to reach 5.1048 million Yuan, an increase of 15 percent from the previous year; and the postal business volume, 11.2 million Yuan, an increase of 20 percent. Program controlled telephone services and long-distance direct dial telephone services are now available to Qamdo residents. The area has 6,752 inner-city telephone lines, and 360 long-distance telephone lines. Ten satellite ground reception stations now serve various counties. VSAT/TES and IDR satellite digital lines total 276, hooked up to automatic long-distance exchanges.

Medicare

By the end of 1996, a medical health network was set up at the prefectural, county and township levels, with 241 medical institutions. Medical institutions at the prefecture level include the Peoples Hospital, the Tibetan Medicine Hospital, the Health Institution for Women and Children, and the Health Workers?School. Qamdo has 11 county-level peoples hospital, 11 epidemic stations, 152 township clinics, and 1,467 village-level clinics. Medical institutions of various levels possess 1,031 beds, and are staffed with 1,091 medical workers.

Cultural Undertakings

In Qamdo Prefecture, there are 12 cultural activity centers including mass art halls, county cultural halls, county libraries and county cultural stations; four theatrical troupes; 116 film projection units; 12 radio broadcasting and TV stations, and 181 county and township TV relay stations. In 1999, there were 1,413 schools in the Qamdo Prefecture. They included one teachers?school, two high schools, 12 primary schools, 61 primary schools, and 1,312 non-governmental schools and schools of other kinds. Teachers numbered 3,974. In the farming and livestock breeding areas, 78.3 percent of school age children now attend classes.