Dozens of earth- and brick- structured houses are scattered over a vast pasture with endless mountain ranges snaking into the distance and the Tuotuohe River merrily flowing past. A white horse stands alone at the riverside, with the backdrop of a setting sun casting golden rays onto the horse's back.

This is what this reporter recently saw on the bank of the Tuotuohe River, the source of China's largest river, the Yangtze. The Tuotuohe River is located in Tanggula Township, known as the country's largest township with an area of 51,000 sq. km. and a small population of 1,180.

The Tuotuohe Military Transfer Station is the largest unit in the area, but the situation is being changed as a railway company has moved in to build the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

The company has become the No.1 tenant of the military compound, lodging in its tallest building.

However, the lives of local people, mostly nomadic Tibetans, have remained largely unchanged for decades, with merely minor changes due to the local government's efforts to curb rampant over- grazing and prevent further land erosion.

The reporter met three Tibetan brothers and the wife of one of them in a Tibetan teahouse. Sipping liquor and Tibetan sweet tea, there was a cordial chat between the reporter and them.

Recently, the local government distributed the grassland among local farmers, with each man given 10,000 mu, or 666 ha.. The brothers plan to increase their stock of sheep from the current 100 to 1,500. A sheep sells for 200 yuan in the local market.

While those families engaged in animal husbandry are living well-off lives, local villagers who depend on other types of farming or mining are still quite poor.

During a visit to a riverside hut, the reporter met a very poor family whose only income comes from the husband who makes merely 200 yuan a month.

Due to various factors, local villagers pay little attention to environmental and sanitary matters, with livestock grazing on the pasture in a random way and large quantities of garbage littering the riverside.

This situation is going to change soon with the setting-up of the area's first official station to look after the issue of land protection, while a squad of elementary schoolchildren was recently formed to pick up garbage and stop littering on the river bank.

What's unfortunate is that local residents have to buy mineral water from a dozen kilometers away, because of the poor quality of local water, both taken from the Tuotuohe River and local wells. The water problem was due to the fact that the water there tastes bitter.

To outside visitors, high altitude sickness remains the major problem when visiting this area. A number of builders have breathed their last breath and passed away on the worksite of the just-inaugurated Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

One third of the members of a group of reporters looking into the environmental situation along the Yangtze River during the last three months, fell ill when they spent a night in the military barracks.

All of the reporters left the area safe, thanks to the efforts of two medical experts who accompanied the group during their stay in Qinghai Province.

(Xinhua 09/20/2001)