Nearly two centuries after railway was invented, the symbol of modern civilization made its way into Tibet, known as the "roof of the world," for the first time.

At about 11:30 am Tuesday, two 25-meter-long rails were laid down at the Amdo Station, some 440 kilometers from Lhasa, at the foot of the Tanggula Range in Amdo County of Tibet.

Sprawling on the Tanggula Range, a mountain "insurmountable even by eagles" in the eyes of locals and regarded as the cradle of the Yangtze River and Lancang River, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway boasts a maximum altitude of 5,070 meters, making it the most elevated railway in the world.

With an investment of 26.21 billion yuan (3.16 billion US dollars), China began the construction project in 2001, hoping the railway between Golmud City of Qinghai Province and Lhasa, capital of Tibet, can serve as a bridge connecting the autonomous region isolated by its high altitude and severe natural environment to the rest of the country.

The Chinese government also hopes the project will put Tibet's social and economic development on wheel and serve the strategy of developing the less-developed western regions and seeking harmonious development across the country.

The 1,142-kilometer Qinghai-Tibet Railway is scheduled to be completed in 2007.

Days before the rail laying ceremony, residents in Amdo County had hung the national flags on their tents and houses, a practice for major festivals.

More than 200 Tibetan herds arrived from over 100 km away, some of them riding horses, to witness the ceremonious occasion.

When the first rails were mounted, the people on the scene let out hurrahs in Tibetan, Han and other ethnic languages.

Vice-Premier Huang Ju sent a congratulation message on behalf of the Chinese central authorities, and encouraged construction workers to build a world-class railway on "the roof of the world."

"The railway will benefit the people in Tibet and Qinghai," said Dazhag Danzim Gele, the Fourth Living Buddha with Dazhag Temple in Tibet. "It will also make the pilgrimage to Lhasa more convenient."

Lhasa is a holy place for Tibetan Buddhists.

"This is the happiest event for me," said 63-year-old Surkang, a Tibetan herdsman who tied to the first rail a hada, a white silk scarf regarded as a symbol of respect and blessing by Tibetans. He was expecting to travel by train instead of on horseback.

Tibet covers an area of more than 1.2 million square kilometers or about one eighth of Chinese territory. It is the only provincial area in the country without an inch of railway. About 90 percent of the 2.7 million Tibetan people live on farming or raising livestock. Poor traffic conditions have been one of the major obstacles for the modernization of Tibet.

People now travel to Tibet mainly by air or automobiles. In 2003, more than 928,000 tourists visited Tibet.

It is believed both the number of visitors to Tibet and that of Tibetan people to the other parts of the country will increase after the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is put into operation.

(Xinhua News Agency June 22, 2004)