Yu Rungui, a senior official of Tibet Tourism Bureau, said on Thursday that winter is the best time to observe the landscape of Mt. Qomolangma. The bureau will launch several kinds of activities during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, aiming to attract more tourists to Tibet.

The Olympic torch will reach Mt. Qomolangma in May 2008, and related work is under preparation by Tibet Autonomous Region government. Yu said that climbing the mountain in winter would cost less, and people could appreciate the beautiful snowscape, but in summer, the foggy weather would make it hard for people to see it.

An official from a local tourism bureau hopes the Olympic Games will bring in more tourists and make the world's tallest mountain become their paradise. According to latest statistics, the mountain had attracted a total of 32 thousand tourists by late September this year.

(China News Service November 13, 2007)