"I heard the railway will be built up to Lhasa in few years, and then we will have cheaper goods." " Prices will go down, but housing prices will certainly go up, so it's better to buy a house now..."

Two young Tibetans chatted at the Fellowman Teahouse on the Linkwo Street in Lhasa. In this capital city of Tibet, teahouses are a major venue for residents to chat, and they also play a role in spreading news and information. In their free time, Tibetans like going to teahouses, having some traditional "sweet tea" and talking freely with friends.

According to the Fellowman's boss, topics in his teahouse are mostly related to the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, which has seen rapid progress and has dominated coverage in the local media.

"When I studied at university in an inland province, what impressed me much was the advanced traffic network there. Now the railroad is built all the way to my hometown. I think my hometown will have sweeping changes," said Losang Cering, a young Tibetan, sipping at his tea.

Meema, Losang's schoolmate in the university and a teacher at a local middle school in Lhasa, said, "My students are very concerned about the railway. They often asked me in class when it will be built here and if the train will run faster than an automobile."

As construction on the world's highest and toughest railway is well underway and getting closer to Lhasa, at its southern end, people inhabiting "the roof of the world" are greatly looking forward to its coming. And the phrase "Qinghai-Tibet Railway" is frequently spoken by local Tibetans.

"At dusk, I stand on the high hill, waiting for the railway to be built into my hometown. Dragons clamber over mountains, bringing blessings to the plateau. That is a magic heavenly road, taking us into the paradise on earth..."

This is a very popular song recently in Tibet, called "The Heavenly Road", praising the Qinghai-Tibet Railway that is hoped will benefit Tibetans and the region. The song implies the good wishes and great expectations the 2.6 million Tibetan people put on the railway"Baima Zholma, a 58-year-old granny, has a dream: to make a pilgrimage to Lhasa by train when the railway becomes operational. The granny is a Tibetan herdswoman living in the Danggula Mountain area, in Golmud in Qinghai province, and the railway will pass her village.

According to Sahda, head of the villagers' committee of the No. 2 Village of Danggula Town where the granny lives, his cattle and sheep have had a soaring price since the railway was built past the village. A sheep was sold about 380 yuan (46 US dollars) three years ago, but now he can get 500 yuan (60 US dollars) each, up more than 30 percent in value, he said.

According to Sahda, in the past the villagers could contact the outside only through sending mail by horse. Recently the railway construction team installed telephones for them for free. Sahda said, "When the railway is completed in Lhasa, we will travel@conveniently."

For Cering, a Tibetan migrant worker for the railway construction, a question remained in his mind: "Where the railway reaches becomes rich. After the railway reaches Lhasa, then will it will go further to Shigatse?" Cering himself is from the Shigatse region.

Dazah Danzim Gele, the fourth reincarnated living Buddha of the Dazah Temple, said, "The building of the railway is not only good for the development of Tibet, but also a great event for Tibetan Buddhism. The railway will more closely connect the major Lama temples with each other, like the Potala Palace, Jokhan, Daipung and Sera in Tibet, Gumbum in Qinghai, and Labrang in Gansu, and the railway also provides much convenience for the multitude of believers to make long-distance pilgrimages."

The 1,118-km Qinghai-Tibet railway will extend from Golmud City in Qinghai province in northwest China to Lhasa in Tibet. It will be the longest railway of the highest elevation in the world.

More than 960 kilometers, or over four-fifths of the railway, will be built at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters, and over half of it will be laid on frozen earth.

The construction on the railway began in June, 2001 and it is expected to be finished in 2006.

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