“The Lotus Hidden Land” no longer too far

Metok is famous for its original ecological environment and highland tropical climate in China and abroad, and is referred to as “The Heaven of Walkers”. The Moinba and Lhoba people here both belong to small-population minorities, their cultures are mysterious and very unique.

The Yarlung Zangbo River turns passed a 180 degree corner at Guoguotang of the Deshing Township in Metok County, the local people call it a snake-shaped turn which has become Metok’s core 4A level scenic spot established by the Metok County. 

With more and more tourists visiting the county, this has made the agri-tourism business at the local place is very busy. Entering Tsering Yudron’s agri-tourism home, it feels like being in an imaginary ideal world: Interspersed houses with unique Moinba housing design, stone-pot stewed chicken is being cooked giving off an aroma into the air, and on the menu there are many local stone-pot dishes and local wild vegetables.  

Tsering Yudron saidagri-tourism was started in June of 2013, because the number of tourists increases day after day, annually business income can number to 130,000yuan.

It was reported that, in 2010, the 6th Aid-Tibetteam from SE China's Fujian Province carried out a project regarding resident housing restoration, preserving the characteristics of ethnic minority villages; therein the resident housing within the villages had left the era when housing was falling into decay with dilapidated walls. At the same time, the team also set up a tropical economic forest plantation model that is mainly based on banana, grapefruit and loquat plantations. An eco-economic model (including agri-tourism, bamboo-weaving processing etc.) that is closely combined to tourism industry was also developed. 

During the past two years since the Metok County has been opened up with a public road, the local tourism industry has developed rapidly, last year receiving 708,000 visits. Apart from the original scenic spots, the Metok Tourism Office has established the tourism route where tourists drive their own vehicles. This route is about 164 km long, along the route the tourists can enjoy seeing beautiful sights such as the Galongla Waterfall, the Swallow Pond Wonder, the Metok Waterfall Complex, and the Moinba stilted buildings as well as thousands of vegetation species like Alsophilaspinulosa a plant referred to as a “living vegetation fossil”

Following the opening of roads, the improvement of communication infrastructures as well as the rapid development of the tourist industry, the land formerly-called “The Lotus Hidden Land” is no longer too far-off, and the Metok people’s life will be as splendid as the lotus blossoms.