The Tibet Autonomous Region has been providing free health checks to all its. The project started at the end of 2011, and will complete at the end of the year. And as part of that effort, experts from Beijing have come to the region to assistant local hospitals.

Good news travels fast.

Long lines quickly formed at this country hospital on news of the arrival Beijing’s medical experts.

A team of 9 experts from the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing are providing physical check-ups for residents in Gongbujiangda County.

But this isn’t just a matter of "Open your mouth and say ’Ahhh.’" The examination involves an electrocardiogram and ultrasound in addition to the typical checks many westerners are familiar with.

Wang Yunting, Deputy Dean of China-Japan Friendship Hospital, said, "Our main job is (to) provide health checks for residents here. We’re very responsible and provide good service with a smile. We want them to know that medical workers nation-wide care about them."

The move comes as part of a swath programs implemented by the government in Tibet in 2011 to improve lives.

And it comes along with broader health care reform impacting the whole of China.

Pubu Zhuoma, Director of Tibet Autonomous Region Health Dep't, said, "Farmers and herdsmen here can get reimbursements for seeing the doctor. The government reimburses around 300 yuan a year in medical costs per person. The maximum reimbursement for serious illness is sixty thousand yuan."

Around three million people live in Tibet - most from the ethnic Tibetan group and other minorities.

And thanks to the efforts of local hospitals, more than two thirds have received medical exams.

As a result, around one thousand children have been diagnosed with heart disease - for which half have received successful operations. That’s especially important in the rarefied high-altitude air of the Tibetan plateau.

And that’s a good sign for everybody who wants to see improved livelihood in the region.