Western China - news and development

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China's least populated township connected to national grid
Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-02 15:11:44|Editor: Lu Hui



LHASA, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- A sparsely populated township in Tibet Autonomous Region has been connected to the state electricity grid, ending life without electricity for its 32 residents, local authorities said Tuesday.

The 15-km-long 10-kilovolt power line, which took five months to complete, is connected to remote Yulmed Township in Luntse County, Shannan City, via 108 electric poles over a 5,000-meter-high mountain, according to the contractor, a Xining-based electric power company in neighboring Qinghai Province.

Yulmed has an average elevation of 3,650 meters and its population was once reduced to one three-member household. Now it has nine households.

In 2008, the local government built a small hydropower station, but it failed to meet increasing power demands, due to improved living standards of the residents, and power outages were frequent.

 

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Chinese, overseas research institutes to jointly monitor ecosystem in central Asia
Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-03 16:02:05|Editor: Xiang Bo



URUMQI, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- A memorandum has been signed by the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography and 22 overseas scientific research institutes, launching joint research projects on the ecosystem in central Asia.

Over the next five years, the institutes will focus on the region's glaciers, water resources, flora and fauna, as well as agriculture, in the context of global climate change.

The memorandum is the second phase of a program launched between China and four central Asia countries in 2012 to study climate change in the region.

In the first phase as of 2017, the Xinjiang ecology research institute and several organizations from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan carried out cooperation in global climate, bio-diversity and geologic disasters.

In the second phase, research organizations from the United States, Belgium and Austria, as well as China's Hong Kong, will participate in joint research, which will focus on water resources and agricultural and environmental sustainable development in Belt and Road countries.

Bordering central Asia, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region accounts for about 70 percent of international scientific and technological cooperation between China and countries in the region.

 

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Western provinces developing fast in e-commerce: Alibaba report
Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-10 22:14:50|Editor: Yurou



HANGZHOU, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- E-commerce sales have grown fast in several western provinces of China, acording to a report on the digital economy published by Alibaba.

In the past year, e-commerce grew fast in western provinces of Gansu and Guizhou, and Tibet Autonomous Region, the report said. Gansu saw sales grow by 114 percent and Guizhou by 76 percent year on year.

Mao Risheng, a researcher with Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Internet commerce had restructured production and logisitics in rural areas and also helped farmers raise income, particularly in the country's west.

Breaking down figures by provinces, the report said economic powerhouse provinces of Guangdong and Zhejiang still dominated online sales.

From January to November last year, the top five in sales were Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing. Sales by Guangdong province are about 25 percent of the national total, while Zhejiang's sales are about 22 percent of the total.

Online demand for skin-care, as well as digital and health products have been climbing. Cross-border e-commerce also soared. Sales of French wine, fragrance from Thailand and baby formula from the Netherlands have grown by 500 percent year on year.

 

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Driverless monorail line launched in NW China
Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-10 21:19:40|Editor: Yang Yi

A manager of China's leading new energy vehicle maker BYD tries the facial recognition for starting a "Yungui" train during the launching of the "Yungui" system, a driverless monorail transit system, in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Jan. 10, 2018. The system "Yungui" was developed by China's leading new energy vehicle maker BYD and telecom giant Huawei. A Yungui train ran on a rail four meters above ground at around 11 a.m. Wednesday in Yinchuan. Yungui trains keep safe distances from others, detect malfunctions, monitor passenger flow and use facial recognition, all automatically. The system is expected to be put into trial commercial operations in the second quarter of this year. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)

YINCHUAN, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- A driverless monorail transit system, the first developed in China, was tested on Wednesday in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

The system "Yungui" was developed by China's leading new energy vehicle maker BYD and telecom giant Huawei.

A Yungui train ran on a rail four meters above ground at around 11 a.m. in the regional capital of Yinchuan.

Yungui trains keep safe distances from others, detect malfunctions, monitor passenger flow and use facial recognition, all automatically.

The system is expected to be put into trial commercial operations in the second quarter of this year.

Monorail trains run at a maximum speed of 80 km per hour. Compared with subways, overground monorail costs less and is less noisy.

 

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Xinjiang receives 2.37 bln USD investment from 19 provincial regions in 2017
Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-24 16:39:10|Editor: Liangyu



URUMQI, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Nineteen provincial-level regions offered a total of 15.18 billion yuan (2.37 billion U.S. dollars) in aid to northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region last year, supporting anti-poverty work and improving employment rate in the region.

The 19 provinces or major cities, including the prosperous Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangdong Province, provided both financial and technological support to Xinjiang.

"They have introduced textile, electronic and agricultural processing enterprises to the region last year, which have helped promote employment among ethnic people, maintained stability in the region and increased communication between local residents and inland cities," said Shohrat Zakir, chairman of the Xinjiang regional government, when he delivered a government work report at the ongoing local parliamentary session.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2012, the 19 provinces and cities have invested 72.4 billion yuan to the region and offered more than 500,000 job opportunities to local residents, according to statistics.

The central government decided at the first central work meeting on Xinjiang in 2010 to set up a mechanism under which 19 provinces and major cities, including the prosperous Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangdong Province, provide financial and technological support to Xinjiang.

Tibet reports double-digit growth in 2017
Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-24 16:59:18|Editor: Liangyu



LHASA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region reported 10-percent GDP growth last year, marking the 25th straight year of double-digit growth, local authorities said Wednesday.

Tibet's GDP reached 131.06 billion yuan (around 20.5 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017, according to statistics announced at the 11th Regional People's Congress.

Last year, the plateau region achieved a 23.9-percent increase in its fixed asset investments, totaling around 205 billion yuan, and raised the per capita disposable income of its urban and rural residents by 10.3 percent and 13.6 percent respectively.

Over the past five years, Tibet has remained one of the fastest growing provincial-level regions in China. Livelihoods, the environment, infrastructure and the region's competitive industries have all improved.

In 2018, Tibet set a target to achieve GDP growth of around 10 percent, with an 18-percent increase in fixed-asset investment as well as increases of more than 10 percent and 13 percent, respectively, for urban and rural per capita disposable incomes.

 

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New roads make a more dynamic Tibet
Source: Xinhua| 2018-02-07 16:07:11|Editor: Yamei


LHASA, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Local transport authorities in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region said a total of 24,306 kilometers of roads had been added to the region over the past five years.

By the end of 2017, the total length of the region's road network reached 89,504 km, according to the regional transport department.

Seven major high-level roads were opened to traffic during the last five years, including those linking Lhasa to Nyingchi, the airport to the downtown of Xigaze, and the Gonggar airport in Lhasa to Tsetang township.

Poor transport has hindered agricultural development and animal husbandry in the region. During the past five years, construction of 3,005 rural road projects were started, with 1,325 now finished. Currently, the rural areas of Tibet have over 60,000 km of roads.

In 2018, the region expects to add another 6,000 km of roads, making the total length reach 96,000 km by the end of the year.

 

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Chinese government to fund irrigation system upgrades in Xinjiang
Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-31 14:06:33|Editor: Xiang Bo


URUMQI, March 31 (Xinhua) -- China's central government plans to spend 1.875 billion yuan (298 million U.S. dollars) on improving irrigation systems in the southern areas of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region this year.

The fund will be used to upgrade irrigation facilities and promote water-saving technology, in order to boost farm output in southern Xinjiang, home to the majority of the region's poor population, according to the regional reform and development commission.

Southern Xinjiang is a major production base for cotton and fruit. However, a lack of water and outdated irrigation systems have long hampered agricultural development in the region.

Four prefectures in southern Xinjiang -- Aksu, Kashgar, Hotan, and Kizilsu -- are among the poorest areas in China. They had more than 1.6 million people living under the poverty line by the end of 2017.

As China aims to eliminate poverty by 2020, Xinjiang is carrying out a three-year poverty-relief plan. Under the plan, 409,000 residents and 94,000 households will be lifted out of poverty this year.

 

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Xinjiang builds 80,000 houses for rural poor
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-06 15:03:17|Editor: Yurou


URUMQI, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region began building 82,300 houses in impoverished areas in the first three months of the year, authorities said Friday.

The region plans to build 300,000 subsidized houses this year. About 210,000 will be for families in extreme poverty, those receiving the minimum living allowances, and households with disabled members.

The rest will be open to other low-income families on application.

To expedite the rural housing construction, the autonomous region has retrained some 56,600 farmers, craftsmen and engineering managers who have been involved in the construction.

Xinjiang is to build enough new houses for all underprivileged households in rural areas. The regional government built 2.1 million such houses from 2011 to 2017.

 

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Opinion: Relocation of Yushu students – What drives the change from disaster to happy ending?
Guest commentary by Wang Yan
2018-04-15 20:46 GMT+8

On April 14, 2010, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit Yushu Tibetan Autonomous County in northwest China's Qinghai Province. The disaster left 2,700 people dead, 270 missing and 12,135 injured. The earthquake had a devastating impact on children, who make up one out of every three people in the earthquake zone. Nearly all schools in Yushu County collapsed or were severely damaged and became too dangerous to use.

Many of the children in the county are from nomadic families from remote, isolated communities. Almost half of the schoolchildren in the Yushu earthquake zone are boarding school students. To these students, school is not only a place to acquire knowledge and skill but also to eat, sleep and socialize with their peers and therefore, offers support for their overall well-being. A discontinuation of learning would have been a huge loss to their education and lives.

A child in the resettlement site plays alone on April 17, 2010, in the Yushu earthquake disaster area in Qinghai. / VCG Photo

Two years later, in spite of the severe damage to schools, not only has the students’ learning not been disrupted, but their performance has improved, and the quality of school education in Yushu upgraded. How?

Soon after the earthquake, as part of the government's rescue efforts, the Ministry of Education identified seven provinces to receive the students from Yushu. All 5,074 secondary school students in Yushu, including lower secondary and upper secondary students, were placed in selected schools in the seven provinces. Over 100 buses are used to transport the students to the train station for their journey to schools across China.

The relocation is costly. The central government has earmarked funds for additional student expenditure for hosting cities, about 4,500 RMB yuan for each lower secondary school student and 5,500 RMB yuan for each upper secondary school student for two years. The local government also allocated a budget to subsidize the relocation including students’ travel expenses, settlement spending, infrastructure procurement and even diet costs. For example, bilingual teachers were arranged, new facilities equipped, and beef and lamb is specially prepared in local canteens for Tibetan students who don’t eat pork.

A monument to the Yushu earthquake. / VCG Photo

Special care has been given to students from Yushu to minimize potential shock caused by differences in curriculum, pedagogy, lifestyle and culture. Psychological services are also provided for the children and adolescents with traumatic experiences of the earthquake. In the end, the students not only received a better education and improved their performance, but also enhanced their competencies in health, sport and communication. Moreover, they have learned the culture of other cities and thus obtained a better understanding of the country.

Yushu’s teachers also benefited from the relocation. Together with the students, the teachers are placed in the schools in seven provinces. They still taught their students, yet with strong professional support, such as partner teacher, teaching aids, and facilities and equipment, for them to accommodate the new school environment. This eventually turned out to be a great opportunity for professional development as the teachers learned new knowledge, skills, methods and strategies.

Children from Yushu at the tent of the welfare institute on April 17, 2010. /VCG Photo

Two years later, the school renovation in Yushu was completed. The students returned to their hometown. It is evident that the overall quality of the schools in Yushu has improved with better-performing students, more capable teachers and new infrastructure and facilities. Some students, missing their second hometown or hosting city, got enrolled in a program for Tibetan students in those schools. The story started with a disaster, yet developed into a happy ending. What are lessons to be distilled? Is it replicable?

The commitments of the government are essentially the cornerstone. On the second day after the earthquake, the Ministry of Education convened a meeting for continuing education delivery in earthquake-stricken areas. The decision to relocate was soon made on the basis of consulting the local governments, mobilizing the resources and studying the feasibility. The relocation is basically a result of collaborative work that joined up efforts of related ministries such as education and finance, as well as government agencies of the various provinces and municipalities. It essentially illustrated how the governance of the nation works in China.

Is it replicable? For starters, on an operational level, it would need the investment of a huge amount of resources. Also, there is a potential risk of an outbreak of disease due to an abrupt change in climate and environment. But the odds are good as it has been shown that the partnership between developed and developing areas, in particular, through sharing of resources is increasingly becoming a common practice in China. In the same vein, the Ministry of Education has recently started a new initiative to send 10,000 selected teachers to the Tibet Autonomous Region and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to work toward overall improvement of education quality in those areas.

(Wang Yan is a senior specialist at the National Institute of Education Sciences. The article reflects the author’s opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.)

 

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Feature: Only by their graves can Company 13 be known
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-15 14:02:34|Editor: Liangyu


URUMQI, April 15 (Xinhua) -- There is no Company 13. Company 13 does not exist. Or does it?

Thousands of graves stretch across the Gobi desert, the final resting place of men and women who worked in Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), a paramilitary organization established to develop and guard the northwest frontier.

The XPCC was founded in 1954, initially comprising 175,500 demobilized soldiers but soon joined by civilian volunteers from all walks of life and all across the country.

Maintaining a military structure with divisions and regiments, the Corps spearheaded the development of the region for decades, giving birth along the way to many stories of hardship and struggle.

Stories of the phantom company date back about sixty years.

Xing Zhengfa worked on the Red Star No. 2 Farm, which had 12 companies in the 1950s. He died and was buried on the Gobi desert beside the farm.

A friend, not knowing of his death, came to visit him and Xing's comrades didn't have the heart to tell him the truth, so they told him that Xing had been transferred to "Company 13."

Xing's friend left. Soon, a letter was delivered to the farm, addressed "Company 13, Red Star No.2 Farm."

The burial ground of those who considered the farm their second home and had the misfortune to pass away there has been known as Company 13 ever since. Although it's never been officially recognized, Company 13 has become the biggest "company" in the division.

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A low wall separates the graves from the vast farm. All tombstones face southeast, the direction of the supposed hometowns of those interred there. The inscriptions on the stones suggest the deceased came from every part of the country.

Among the tombs is Chen Xiliang's. He went there in 1949 from south China's Guangdong Province, more than 3,000 kilometers away. He has laid alongside his comrades for more than 20 years. A few steps away from his tomb, is the channel that irrigates the land, Chen's lifelong cause.

To turn the Gobi into farmland, Chen and more than 1,000 others took up their shovels to dig a canal that brings water to the farm.

They dug through the snow, living in tents, huddled by stoves. When the work was done, Chen took a job maintaining the canal and didn't retire until his last breath.

"On his deathbed, he asked us to bury him close to the canal," recalled Chen Xiliang's son, Chen Guangming.

Today, more than 4,000 hectares of fertile farmland have been made out of sand on the farm, thanks to the endeavors of people like Chen. As head of water and electricity department of the farm, to some extent Chen Guangming has inherited his father's career.

"I'm deeply influenced by my father," he said. "Devoted to their cause, my father and his colleagues set a good example for us."

Irrigation on the farm is now a more sophisticated matter. With the help of sensors, the workers know which stretch of land is dry and needs water.

Through six decades, the XPCC has reclaimed 1.3 million hectares of farmland and is now modernizing Xinjiang's agriculture.

The corps has turned the country's driest region into the biggest area using water-saving irrigation technologies, producing a sixth of China's cotton.

 

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Tibet solar energy park to benefit 2,000 poor families
By Daqiong in Lhasa and Zhang Yi in Beijing | China Daily | Updated: 2018-05-11 09:45

Construction of China's largest photovoltaic industrial park has begun in Samdrubze district of Shigatse, Tibet autonomous region, with the project expected to house 2,000 families from poverty-stricken areas, local anti-poverty authorities said on Thursday.

The park, with an investment of 28 billion yuan ($4.4 billion), will be centered on a 2,000-megawatt solar power plant, with an annual output of 4 billion kWh, and an output value of over 4 billion yuan, said Galsang Nyoidrub, director of the Samdrubze Development and Reform Commission.

He said developing the solar power sector in Shigatse makes sense on many fronts. It is even nicknamed "the city of sunlight" with average annual sunlight of 3,300 hours.

"We plan to officially start building the solar segment at the end of this year. If everything goes well, the plant will be completed in 2025. Five percent of the annual profit will be used for local poverty alleviation," Galsang Nyoidrub said.

He said the electricity will be sold to South Asian countries, including Nepal and India, as well as to East China after transmission lines go up in the future.

"Located close to an expressway which is under construction, and near the city's airport, the industrial park will also develop ecological agriculture and service industry jobs to generate more employment opportunities," he added.

"The power plant alone will not generate enough job vacancies, so we will also develop agriculture suitable to local conditions. Greenhouses will be built under photovoltaic panels to save space."

Two agricultural companies have already started operations in the park, investing 150 million yuan, Galsang Nyoidrub said.

Opposite the photovoltaic industrial park, a "photovoltaic town" is under construction, with an investment of 4 billion yuan. The community will accommodate 2,000 households from poverty-stricken areas, representing the largest relocation project in the region.

"We have already finished 75 percent of the project. Some 1,008 people from 234 households have already moved in, and most are satisfied with their living conditions and employment arrangements," Galsang Nyoidrub said. "One task is to persuade those poor households to leave their hometowns and help them find proper jobs."

Lhagchog, 28, one of the beneficiaries of the project, moved from Garzang village to the community in downtown Shigatse last December.

"My family has always lived in Garzang, a remote village," she said, "We have relied on seven acres of land to make a living, but it has low yields due to water shortages and the high altitude.

"Since 2016, the government began encouraging us to move, but we were hesitant at first because of fear of an unknown future. The government has patiently introduced policies to us many times, and after countless family discussions, we finally made up our minds," she said.

Lhagchog said she opened a small restaurant which brought in more revenue than expected, and the local government also helped her father find a job as a custodian, with a monthly salary of 4,500 yuan. Penpa, the 54-year-old father, said, "We moved from a shabby mud building to a big and bright house. Our life changed totally from farmers to city residents."

Lhagchog said: "With convenient transportation, it is easy to take my 2-year-old daughter to the hospital. Now I am improving my cooking skills to run my restaurant better. I want to raise my daughter to be a grateful, educated person who is useful to society,"

"The family is satisfied with our life now, and we believe a brighter future is coming. We are lucky to live in the new era," she said.

 

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Gesang Degyi: Big dreams in China's most isolated county
New China TV
Published on May 21, 2018

One elementary school teacher's dream to educate kids in China's most isolated county

 

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Tibet to build three more airports
Source: Xinhua| 2018-06-09 00:02:44|Editor: yan


LHASA, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Tibet plans to build three new airports to promote tourism and economic growth.

The airports will be in Shannan, Xigaze and Ali, according the regional government and the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Construction of the three airports, all above the altitude of 3,900 meters, should begin in 2019.

Capital Airport Holding Company will be responsible for the construction of the airport in Shannan, Shanghai Airport Authority responsible for the airport in Xigaze and West Airport Group responsible for Ali.

The three companies are scheduled to transfer the airports to local operators after one or two years' operation.

Currently, Tibet has five civil airports in Lhasa, Qamdo, Nyingchi, Ali and Xigaze, with nine airlines operating 86 routes, including an international one.

 

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Tibet resettling nomads from harsh, high plateau areas
By Palden Nyima and Daqiong in Lhasa | China Daily | Updated: 2018-06-13 10:32

Siyo Tsenga and his son Tagyal head to their new house in a settlement in Doilungdechen district in Lhasa, Tibet autonomous region. [Photo by PALDEN NYIMA/CHINA DAILY]

Siyo Tsenga was pleased to see that his new home was near a medical clinic, after being relocated to a new settlement in Tibet's Doilungdechen district in Lhasa.

Siyo Tsenga is a Tibetan nomad from the region's Nyima county, where the average altitude is nearly 5,000 meters above sea level, making living there a challenge.

Thanks to the region's ecological relocation policy, which started in 2016, his family was one of 262 households from his hometown to move to Doilungdechen, about 1,200 kilometers from Nyima.

"The altitude at my old home is too high to live. It's always winter there. I am very happy to have a second home near Lhasa where the altitude is relatively low. I want to say thanks to the government," he said.

The 52-year-old said he could not walk well because of severe arthritis in his legs, and he hoped the condition would improve in a more comfortable environment.

With more than 1,000 sheep, 70 yaks and more than 100 goats, Siyo Tsenga's family is not poor. The family earns more than 30,000 yuan ($4,700) a year from selling meat, butter and cashmere from the goats.

Although he moved to the new settlement, he didn't worry about his animals because he was able to hire a shepherd to tend them.

Compared with his traditional mud house in the grassland, the well-decorated new concrete house is both snug and pretty, he added.

The regional government of Tibet plans to complete the relocation of 6,910 households - 27,880 residents - by 2020. The project began in 2016.

A total of 708 households were relocated last year, and 2,293 households are scheduled for this year, according to Tibet's forestry department.

The 281 people who moved on Monday are the first from two villages in Nyima county this year, according to Tsering Rigzin, deputy director of Nagchu Animal Husbandry Bureau.

"These two villages needed to be relocated, because both are at a very high altitude, where the environment is harsh and people's life spans are shorter," he said. "Relocating people from high-altitude environments can improve public services, create broader job opportunities and foster better living conditions. Plus, it reduces human activities that harm fragile natural areas."

He said many people suffer from diseases on the plateau, such as high blood pressure and arthritis.

According to Tsering Rigzin, the evacuated nomads will not stop their herding after evacuation, as the younger and more able-bodied are encouraged to maintain the tradition.

"The first group of evacuees are mostly elderly and children from Nyima county. Stronger residents still have to look after their livestock on the grassland," he said.

Those who do not want to continue the traditional lifestyle can find work near the new settlement, including jobs as janitors and drivers. The local government also offered 33 hectares of land for newcomers to plant vegetables or raise livestock.

 

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China Focus: Protecting birds on high-altitude grid project
Source: Xinhua| 2018-06-13 15:55:03|Editor: Yamei


XINING, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Perched atop a 50-meter-tall electrical tower, two birds fly out of an artificial nest into the open air.

"There are bird eggs in the nest!" shouts Wang Hui, as he checks the tower's power lines.

Wang, who works with the State Grid branch in Qinghai Province in northwest China, has been assigned to check the operating conditions of the power grid connecting Xining, capital of Qinghai Province, and Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region. The project, which officially went into operation in 2012, spans 2,530 km and stands at an average altitude of 4,500 meters above sea level.

While the project has guaranteed electricity for local residents, those who conduct safety-checks on the towers have been troubled by one thing: birds.

"The project crosses the Hoh Xil nature reserve, where a lack of tall plants have forced birds to make nests on the electrical towers," Wang said. "Many birds have been killed or injured due to the high voltage, and the circuit frequently breaks because the birds rest on the lines."

"In the beginning, the workers placed sharp objects and mirrors on the towers, but this created more problems," Wang said. "Some birds were injured or even killed by the sharp objects."

To prevent the birds dying, authorities with the State Grid branch came up with an innovative solution: to build artificial nests in the safe areas of the towers.

"We started putting the artificial nests on the towers in 2015," Wang said.

So far, 86 nests have been placed and 50 more will be installed this year.

"We found that all our nests have attracted birds," Wang said. "Some have even hatched their eggs there."

"We had two choices, either we install safer repellent objects and insulate the circuits better so the birds don't get hurt," he said. "Or we just put our own nests up."

The nests measure 80 cm in diameter and are made out of rattan, a flexible type of palm tree. Workers like Wang Hui carry these nests on their backs and climb up the towers, placing the nests on the tower's platforms while suspended in mid-air.

"We usually put a little mattress made of coir, the fibrous material found on coconuts, in each nest," Wang said.

It is very cold at such a high altitude and workers have to cut off chunks of ice on the tower frames while climbing. The entire process can take half an hour.

"By using artificial nests, we not only lowered the possibility of birds getting hurt, but the lines now have a more stable power transmission," Wang said.

According to the State grid, since the measures were taken, the number of power outages has been reduced twice a year on average. Since August 2017, there has been no reports of power outages because of birds. An extra 2.65 million kilowatts-hours of electricity is transmitted on average every day.

"We will continue to improve how we protect the birds, so that humans and birds can co-exist in harmony," said Yuan Zhiyi, with the State Grid branch in Qinghai.