After that, she made a small pot of buttered tea and carried it on a ritual walk around the Buddha pagoda in the village.

As a matter of fact, Yuzin is one of 116 Tibetans aged over 100 in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

In 1991, there were 57 centenarians in the region.

In China, 6.4 of every 1 million people are aged over 100, according to the latest national census.

But in this region, the rate is higher, 44 out of every million.

Most Tibetan centenarians lead an independent life and still do some physical labor. Despite the hardships they have lived through, they remain optimistic about life. Of the centenarians in Tibet, most are illiterate, and the majority are women.

"The Tibetans are enjoying better health, and as a result many can now live more than 100 years," said Galsang, a research fellow with the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences.

The average lifespan among Tibetans has risen from 36 years in the mid-20th century to 67 years today, Galsang said.

Their longer lifespan is the result of improved medical care, according to Galsang.

Since the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, the central government has earmarked more than 1.8 billion yuan (US$216 million) to develop medical services in the region.

Most of the rural villages have set up co-operative medical outposts, and the allowances the central government gives farmers and herds people each year for medical treatment total more than 20 million yuan (US$2.41 million).

Midwives were in huge demand when women gave birth in the past, but today an increasing number of expectant mothers are choosing to give birth in hospitals.

Cering Degyi, 26, lives in Zongba Village, Gyangdang Township, Xigaze Prefecture. The village is some 40 kilometers from the China-Nepal Highway, a distance that takes five to six hours to walk.

Going to Xigaze involves a bus ride of more than two hours.

Cering Degyi was happy to give birth to her child recently in a hospital in Xigaze. For her efforts, she was awarded a subsidy of 20 yuan (US$2.4) and a set of clothes for her infant. The villagers who helped to send her to the hospital were also awarded 10 yuan (US$1.2) per person.

"My mother gave birth to five children, one of whom died immediately after birth," Cering Degyi said.

Hindered by poor road conditions or access to motorways, many women chose to give birth at home.

"Incessant bleeding after birth caused many women who gave birth at home to die in the past," said Cegar, an official with the Health Commission of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

At present, there are 104 hospitals in the region, and seven prefectures and cities have set up health clinics for women and infants.

To make it possible for the expectant mothers to give birth in hospitals, Cegar and her colleagues have organized hand-tractors to transport them there.

"This helps increase the rate of safe births," Cegar said.

Statistics show 22.74 percent of women now go to hospital to give birth, 20 percent higher than 10 years ago. And the mortality rate during childbirth has dropped from 500 per 10,000 in 1959 to 23 per 10,000 today. As well, the infant mortality rate has dropped from 430 per 1,000 in 1959 to 31 per 1,000 at present.

Dexing, a 47-year-old female farmer in Nedong County, has given birth to 13 children.

"I didn't expect to have so many children," she said.

At present, Tibetan families have an average of three to four children, with five or more among the nomadic families.

In cities in the region, many people have already embraced the idea of family planning.

Cering Norbu, 31 and working with the local government, is the only child in his family who has received a college education.

He and his wife have decided to have only one child.

"We are very busy and so have no time to take care of a second one," Cering Norbu said.

Farmers and herders have also learned about family planning, but they demand more specific services, according to an official with the region's Family Planning Commission.

She and her colleagues have been traveling to the rural areas and prairies to offer medical assistance, such as delivering condoms to the farmers and herders when they need them.

Urbanization

Meanwhile, another change among the Tibetans is that many are beginning to accept the idea of living in towns or cities.

Buqion, a farmer in Gongbogyangda in the eastern part of the region, operates a store in Sumdo Town which is close to National Highway No 308.

He sells beef soup and pancakes to passers-by, and makes a net profit of 500-1,000 yuan (US$60-120) a month. He has moved from a rural village to the town.

"There are five people in my family and we used to live in a low-lying adobe house," he said. "Here in the town, we now have a better house."

In Nyingchi, there are 110,000 farmers and herders, making up 90 percent of the prefecture's population.

In recent years, the prefectural government has invested more than 60 million yuan (US$7.2 million) to build 10 towns along the region's highways.

With government aid, houses were built, and each of the 5,000 households that moved there were given 10,000 yuan (US$1,207) as start-up funds for the relocation. Thus, some 1,500 farmers and herders have moved from the region's mountainous areas to these towns.

Today, of the 2.6 million people in the region, 18.9 percent of the total, or 495,300 inhabitants now live in cities and towns.

The story first appeared on this year's third issue of China's Tibet magazine

(China Daily July 8, 2003)