For the Han people, the major ethnic group in China, each family can only have one child as the national family planning policy requires.

In contrast, Tibetans as a Chinese minority ethnic group are treated with a special family planning policy that allows the Tibetan farmers and herdsmen to have as many children as they like.

However, more and more Tibetans are becoming reluctant to use this privilege.

For instance, a recent survey conducted in this capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region shows that about 30 percent of Lhasa residents want to have only one child, 40 percent would be quite satisfied with two, and only 19 percent would like to have three or more.

Most Tibetan women have come to realize that the more children a family has, the heavier the financial burden it has to bear, and this may have an adverse impact on the rearing of the children.

"Although we Tibetans are allowed to have more children than the Han people, I prefer to have only one child," said Yangzom, a mother of one, who is currently running a small retail store near an elementary school in Lhasa where her husband teaches.

The couple's monthly wages add up to 3,500 yuan (US$420), one quarter of which they will spend on the education of their 13-year-old son.

In addition to the normal school curricula, the couple also send their child to a nearby children's palace to take training programs on art and music, and invite private teachers to teach him English during vacations.

"I just want to improve the quality of our life, and create a relatively comfortable environment in which to rear my child," Yangzom said, while stressing the importance of sound children education.

"I feel having two children would have been the best choice for me, since our family is not in very good financial condition," said Cering Zhoima, a mother of three daughters and a sanitation worker in Lhasa.

"My mother has kept asking me to have a son, since she is really obsessed with the old mentality of preferring sons to daughters," she said.

"On one hand, I have to follow my mother's wishes; on the other, I have to worry about the financial burden if I really did so," she complained, saying this has put her into a dilemma.

However, her husband does not want her to bear more children and encourages her to receive a sterilization operation, saying the quality rather than the quantity of their children weighs the heaviest on his mind.

Purpu Zhoima, director of the Tibetan Family Planning Commission, quoting the local law, said that Tibet encourages its residents to practice birth control, but the right to make the decision lies with themselves. "The government has never imposed any quota or limitation on Tibetan women as far as the number of children is concerned, not to mention forced abortion or sterilization," Purpu noted.

About 36,000 babies were born in 1999 in Tibet, which means an annual population growth rate of 23.1 per thousand, much smaller than the figure for 1997.

So far, there are 46 maternity and child health centers and 11 state-level baby-oriented hospitals in Tibet.

Moreover, over 2,000 doctors specializing in the health of women and children are working in the vast farming and stockbreeding areas of the region.

The constantly improving medical and hygiene conditions have directly resulted in a much lower infant mortality and a longer life expectancy for Tibetans. The local life expectancy now stands at 68, compared to 35 only half a century ago.

In the old days, Tibetan women had to give birth in cold and dirty animal sheds, which led to many new-born babies contracting measles and other contagious diseases, said Yexe Yangzom, a pediatrician at the No.1 People's Hospital of Tibet.

Now, Tibetan women can see a doctor at any time, and they often bring their children for medical examinations and seek consultations at various hospitals, Yexe added.

(Xinhua 03/21/2001)