An aerial view of Yadong County reveals dark, ink-like mountains, vast expanses of forest, crystal-clear rivers and lakes, and boundless grasslands.

The ecological foundation of this border town is visible everywhere and felt at every moment. In recent years, Yadong County in Xigaze City has upheld the principles of ecological priority, green development, and invigorating the border to enrich the people. With unwavering determination to plant and increase greenery, with meticulous craftsmanship to shape the cityscape, and by leveraging ecological advantages to broaden the path to prosperity, it has forged a new path of high-quality development for a plateau border region - one that is ecologically pleasant, livable, and industrially thriving.

Seeking green from the wind and sand

"Once these saplings grow taller and bigger, the wind in the village will surely ease up a bit." After a quick breakfast, Cangjue, a villager from Gulu Village in Tuna Town, hurried to the nursery base she is responsible for.

"My wife and I each manage a base - 15,000 saplings in total." Cangjue laid the water pipes along the rows of trees, opened the valve, and watched the clear water flow toward the roots. Within ten minutes of entering the field, his trouser legs were splattered with mud.

Who would have thought that before 2021, Gulu Village in Tuna Town had only 40 red willows?

Located in the northeastern part of Yadong County, Tuna Town has an average altitude of 4,500 meters, where fierce winds rage year-round. Villagers joke: "One wind a year, blowing from the start to the end."

To change this situation, Yadong County launched a pilot "thousand mu, ten thousand trees" land greening initiative in high-altitude towns, starting with Tuna Town. Town Party committee and government leaders took the lead in visiting villages and households, learning from peer counties and towns at high altitudes, and organized eight administrative villages to hold three symposiums and conduct field visits to three towns including Gamba and Kangmar.

In 2021, Gulu Village was the first to implement a scientific trial planting project for high-altitude native willow trees, with saplings derived from the 40 red willow mother trees in the village.

"We must not only add greenery but protect it." Tuna Town strictly tightened the key links of "what to plant and how to plant," applying a coordinated mechanism of "party branch leadership, party member demonstration, cadre motivation, and public participation." Regular follow-up management such as watering, pruning, and fertilizing was carried out, along with prevention and control of water shortages, pests and diseases, and damage from people and livestock. Through meticulous care, the trees in each village’s nursery base grew well, with a survival rate exceeding 90%.

The trees came to life, and the landscape turned lush and green. The most intuitive feeling among the people of Gulu Village was that the wind had eased somewhat - and when it blew on their faces, it no longer carried sand.

"Increasing greenery is increasing advantages and planting greenery is planting the future." Over the years, Yadong County has persisted in carrying out its land greening initiative, drawing on a single blueprint to the end. In eastern Yadong, residents purchased saplings themselves and planted high-altitude native tree species around their homes and along courtyard walls, adding color to "green and beautiful courtyards." Planting and protecting greenery has shifted from being government-led to becoming a conscious action of cadres and the public alike.

Restoring tranquility to the lake

Driving from Kangmar to Yadong, the outline of Dochen Tso Lake becomes increasingly distinct against the azure sky. The lake surface is like a mirror, a pure blue, with the majestic silhouette of Chomolhari Snow Mountain reflected within. Black-necked cranes glide gracefully across the water, as if in a fairyland.

Dochen Tso Lake, also known as Duoqing Cuo, is located in Tuna Town, Yadong County, and is hailed as "one of the most beautiful lakes in the world." It is a national 3A-level tourist attraction.

However, this lake had long suffered from wind and sand erosion. Every windy season, gales carrying sand and gravel would continuously erode the lakeside grasslands, obscure the lake surface, and even affect traffic safety in the surrounding area.

To protect this landscape, Yadong County adhered to the integrated protection and systematic governance of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and sand, and decisively launched the Dochen Tso Lake ecological protection project. In the governance process, local authorities adapted measures to local conditions, adopting the mature "grid sand-fixation method" used in alpine regions - building square grids of stone around the lake to firmly lock shifting sand within the grids. At the same time, large-scale grass planting was carried out to gradually clothe the lakeshore in green. Through sustained governance, the lakeshore grew increasingly green, the water became clearer, and the reflection of Chomolhari Snow Mountain was once again clearly mirrored at the heart of the lake.

In the ecological governance process, Yadong County focused on mobilizing and relying on the people. After old houses demolished, many farmers and herders voluntarily transported discarded stones to the shores of Dochen Tso Lake, stacking them piece by piece into the sand-fixation grids.

"The lake belongs to everyone. If we can contribute, we contribute," said many residents of Tuna Town who participated in sand prevention and control. "When the lake is clean, our hearts feel lighter too."

"In the past, once you passed Kangmar, the sandstorms would hit. Small stones would clatter against the car windows, and when the wind was strong, you couldn’t see anything," said Zhao Ya, a driver long engaged in tourism transport in Xizang, with deep feeling. "Now it's much better - the roads are clean, driving is pleasant, and business has improved."

Making the border town livable

People's cities are built by the people, and for the people.

For a long time, Yadong County has upheld the principle of supporting high-quality development with a high-quality ecological environment, striving to build a "garden city" with greenery in all four seasons, flowers in three, scenery at every step, and harmony between humanity and nature.

Focusing on "abundant greenery." Grounded in the functional positioning of a small border town and the characteristics of the plateau climate, Yadong County adopted advance planning and high-standard layout. With main and secondary urban roads as landscape axes, city entrances, plaza nodes, and intersections as landscape highlights, and government courtyards, residential communities, and street spaces as greening supplements, it carefully selected tree, shrub, and flower species suited to high-altitude growth. By planting greenery in every available space, preserving blank spaces for greenery, and demolishing illegal structures to restore greenery, it maximized urban green space.

Focusing on "quality improvement." Yadong County treated refined management as the guarantee for shaping the beautiful living scenes of a "garden city," continuously working on scientific, refined, and intelligent approaches. It strengthened and upgraded supporting service facilities in parks and green spaces, further enhancing the comfort and convenience of urban street life. It actively explored new methods of sanitation operations, entrusting urban and rural environmental sanitation to third-party management, adopting a "twice-daily sweeping, all-day cleaning" operation model, and adhering to the standards of clean greenery, clean roads, clean facilities, and clean facades -basically achieving a city area that shows its true colors and is free of floating dust.

Focusing on "empowerment." It integrated the construction of a "garden city" with urban renewal and resilient city development, adhering to checklist-based management and project-based advancement. An investment of 40.77 million yuan (RMB) was made to implement the second phase of the landfill project, ensuring a harmless treatment rate of 99.7% for county household waste. It continued to advance comprehensive environmental governance projects including the expansion and renovation of the landfill and the upgrading of sewage treatment plant facilities and equipment, accelerating the filling of shortcomings and weaknesses.

From scattered touches to countywide greenery, from simple greening to refined landscaping, Yadong County has used embroidery-like precision to polish the city's texture and refine ecological details, transforming the border town into an ecologically livable, scenically beautiful, peaceful and harmonious plateau garden border town.

Standing at a new starting point, Yadong County will unswervingly follow the path of ecological priority, green development, invigorating the border to enrich the people, and long-term stability and security, continuing to write a new chapter in the deep integration of ecological civilization and rural revitalization in the new era.

Reporters: Wang Li, Hu Rongguo, Yang Ziyan, Tenzin Namse, Tenzin Gawa, Tsukuba

Translator: Zheng Yujie

First Reviewer: Zhi Xinghua

Second Reviewer: Drakpa Wangchen

Third Reviewer: Hu Rongguo