Metog becoming magnet for tourism

On March 14, Wen Guo and his wife, Drolma Chozong, spent nearly an entire day cleaning their house in Jeling, a village of the Monba ethnic group, in Metog county, Xizang autonomous region. The couple had been informed by the village officials that two Chinese movie stars might choose to stay in their home during their visit to the village. Later that evening, the actors and their teams arrived in the village.

However, instead of opting for Wen's homestay, which is named No 1, the actors decided to lodge separately in the village's No 2 and No 3 homestays. "We only have two single rooms available to receive guests," Wen told China Daily. "It is not enough to accommodate the actors with their assistants."

Instead, Wen's two rooms accommodated other members from the actors' teams, who came to the remote county for a week to scout potential filming locations.

"No matter who stays in our homestay, we only charge 300 yuan ($41.50) per room per night in line with this year's standardized rates for 20 rooms in our village's six homestays," Wen said.

The annual rates are the result of collective discussions among villagers, he added.

Forest with a 'tree king'

According to Wen, the village began focusing on tourism in 2020.

Huang Jiabin, an official from Nyingchi city in Xizang, was appointed Jeling's Party secretary in 2018 to help the villagers shake off poverty. "Back then, with no paved road connecting us to the outside world, I had to endure a four-hour trek from Beibeng township along a muddy trail to reach the village," Huang said.

In 2019, the local government initiated the construction of a 6.5-meter-wide cement road from Beibeng to Jeling. It sparked Huang's vision for the future of tourism in the village, prompting him to begin mapping out a blueprint for development. "Hidden in beautiful primitive forest, Jeling boasts organic tea gardens with panoramic views of several snow-capped mountains, especially Mount Namjagbarwa with an elevation of 7,782 meters," he said. "Jeling's potential for tourism is right there and is so obvious to me."

The construction of the road was completed in January 2021.

Between 2020 and 2022, Huang guided the villagers to use funds that had been allocated by the government for poverty alleviation to upgrade the village's tourism infrastructure.

In 2021, he introduced the area to Professor Lyu Zhi, a leading conservation biologist from Peking University and one of the co-founders of the Shan Shui Conservation Center, a Chinese nongovernmental organization dedicated to species and ecosystem conservation. Lyu and Shan Shui began sending researchers to conduct regular surveys on the area's biodiversity.

In April 2022, researchers from Peking University and other organizations found a 76.8-meter tree in a patch of primitive forest within Jeling's boundaries. At the time, the tree, a Bhutan white pine, was thought to be the tallest on the Chinese mainland, surpassing the previous height record of 72 meters. The research team also identified seven other trees measuring over 70 meters tall during the survey in the forest.

Although the record was later beaten by other tall trees in southeastern Xizang, the forest, known for its "tree king", has gradually evolved into a popular tourist destination and has drawn visitors, especially nature lovers, to Jeling.

The discovery has also attracted more researchers to the area, who suggested that Jeling develop homestays and ecotourism.