Hand in Hand，and Heart to Heart

The new century has dawned and our work in the past year has drawn to a successful conclusion through the care and concern from our readers. I thank you from the bottom of my heart! I came to Chinas Tibet in May 1991, when I finished my graduate study in the Beijing Teachers?University, majoring in folklore. I worked for the Chinese and Tibetan editions of the magazine, and was transferred to the English edition in 1997. With more readers demanding a better English edition, I was appointed its chief editor in 1999. Though I have been working for the publication for some years, being solely responsible for its output is a new experience to me. Thanks to aid and support from my colleagues, Tibetan study workers and our readers, I am able to publish a comparatively better English edition compared with previous years.

My success partly comes from my love for Tibet, love that I cultivated during my time with the magazine. In 1991, I was given my first assignment to interview Wangqug Dorje, vice-chairman of the Tibet Association of Photographers. His work, Spring in an Ancient Temple, won the gold medal from the 3rd International Photography Show. The second person I interviewed was Cemoinling Renbochi. Before 1950, he served as Prince Regent, as the Dalai Lama had not yet reached the age of 18. When I met him in the Grand Hotel in Beijing, he entertained me with leeches and gave me some to take home when I left. My love for Tibet also comes from my visit to that region. Its blue skies, majestic monasteries, buttered tea, mellow qingke barley wine and folklore combine to cast an enchanting spell on visitors, and lie embedded in my mind. In order to do a better job, I am currently doing research on "King Gesar and the Tibetan culture" in the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In the meantime, I will continue to work on ChinaS Tibet. I hope you will give me your suggestions and comments with regard to our magazine. You are welcome to write to me at my e-mail address: zgxzxs@ctibet.org We wish always to be "hand in hand and heart to heart" with our readers.

In this issue your will find reports on Tibetan mountaineers, the landslide that hit the Yiong Co Lake area early this year, ancient tombs found in Nyingchi, and comments on New York Times?coverage of Tibet and "Tibetan issues" by a PhD student at Peking University.

In the first year of the new century, we will publish special reports on railway construction in Tibet, the life of ordinary Tibetans, and some other subjects that I am sure you will find very interesting, and which will make it possible for you to gain more knowledge about the new developments and traditional culture of Tibet.

Taking this opportunity, I would like, on behalf of the staff of Chinas Tibet, to extend my warm greetings to all our readers.

Merry Christmas!

Good health and good luck in the new year! Degyi