The opening ceremony of the second Thonmi Cultural Tourism Festival takes place at Thonpa village in Nyemo County of Lhasa on the morning of July 29. The theme of this year’s festival is "Hometown of ancient Tibetan language and water mill incense", China Tibet Online reported.

"Scenic spots in Thonpa offer tourists far more than its natural scenery. There are, for instance, the former residence of Thonmi Sambhota who is inventor of Tibetan incense, as well as the first Tibetan script museum in China and the oldest village dwellings in Tibet," said Ms. Wang, a tourist visiting Thonpa, "Other than having fun, we get to know about Tibetan civilization here. "

Under the formula of "Village should thrive by culture, villagers by tourism", Nyemo County has held the three-day festival and set up a model national forest park in Nyemo to facilitate the socio-economic development of Thonpa.

Many villagers have found jobs in local scenic spots since the village developed tourism. Tsering Dorje, a security guard working at a scenic spot, said that in the past he had to go far to make money by renovating houses. Now he can earn his bread nearby, plus the convenience of caring for the elderly at home.