The bridge in Jiangqian village of Qinghai Province, northwestern China has broken the traffic bottleneck here, which plagues the village for years.

Jiangqian village, a small village lies at the foot of Mt. Anemaqen, Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, mainly relies on animal husbandry. However, locals have long been troubled by the poor traffic conditions till bridges have been built here.

"Now we no longer need to be worried when passing the river. Our livestock products enjoy a good market outside our village due to the newly-built highway" said Suoshiduo.

The rural highway construction in Qinghai Province commenced on 2004. This year, another 160 million yuan from the central government will go for highway improvement in 6 Tibetan-inhabited prefectures.

Besides, considering special folk-custom and religious belief in Tibetan-inhabited areas, highways to those Tibetan monasteries and celestial burial grounds have also under delicate plan. 62 highways connecting celestial burial grounds have so far been built, extending a total mileage of 213 kilometers.

To offer convenience for locals, Qinghai Ministry of Communications has allocated certain subsidy to construct bridges, especially in the vicinity of Sanjiangyuan Area.

Till the end of last year, 854 bridges of different sizes have been set up in 6 Tibetan-inhabited prefectures of Qinghai and will to have 2,000 more in next 3 years.

Great changes have also taken in Maqin County within only a few years.

"When the construction of Marong Bridge started in our village, I together with about 2,000 locals and monks in our village, provide tea and milk for workers of our own accords because that is a big happy event for us," said Tibetan elder Meijiang from Maqin County, who has experienced that tough days without bridges in the past.

According to Tashi Nyima, head of Zaduo County Highway Bureau, the Zamo Highway (Zaduo-Moyun section) at a cost of more than 40 million yuan, benefited over 6,000 people. "We can not finish Zamo Highway without financial support from the central government," Tashi Nyima added.

Nowadays, all counties in Qinghai Tibetan-inhabited areas have been paved with asphalt and all local government seats have access to network, sources from Qinghai Ministry of Communications.

"Qinghai has allocated more than 160 million yuan in highway construction since the Western Development Drive started in 2000," Ma Zhongyin, chief engineer with Qinghai Ministry of Communications said, "it is much more than the total local financial revenue ever since the peaceful liberation of Tibet."

By far, the entire length of highway in 6 Tibetan-inhabited prefectures of Qinghai, adds up to 39,900 kilometers, accounting for over 80 per cent of the total highway length in Qinghai Province. As scheduled, at the end of the 11th Five-Year-Plan period, all Tibetan-inhabited areas in Qinghai, will access to highways.