Mountaineers climb Mt. Qomolangma.[File photo/Baidu]

Tibet has received 1,679 foreign mountaineering teams and 17,248 climbers between 1980 and 2014, generating 50 million U.S. dollars in revenue, China Tibet News reported.

When the first ascent of Mt. Qomolangma was made by mankind in 1953，the development scale  and economic returns of mountain climbing on its north in China are far smaller than those of the south slope in Nepal. However, most of the mountaineers in Tibet consider the year 1953 the beginning of Tibet’s mountaineering industry. Through 60 years of arduous exploration, a unique mountaineering culture has been formed in Tibet, which has laid a more solid foundation for the develoment of Tibet's mountaineering with better conditions.

In 2014, Tibet received a total of 96 foreign mountaineering teams, a 31.5 percent increase from that of 2013, from countries such as Nepal, Russia, and Germany. A total of 658 climbers have visited Mt. Qomolangma, Mt. Cho Oyu, and Mt. Shishapangma for mountaineering，among whom 76 have managed to summit Mt.Qomolangma.

Over the past 30 years, international mountaineering activities have also brought in incomes for the local farmers and herdsmen living in the areas. In 2014, international mountaineering teams paid more than 471,600 U.S.dollars for the rent of yaks and yak herders, environmental protection and other fees. In addition, Tibet has been developing new ways to set up catering and accommodation supply chains in order to help solve the problem of employment for farmers and herdsmen who live around these mountains.