LHASA, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Street vendors in the old downtown of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, ended their days of battling the elements on Friday when they moved to a newly-built building.

More than 3,000 vending stands were relocated to Pargor Commercial Building at Pargor Street, making way for Buddhist prayer along streets in the city.

Dawa, a Tibetan who has run a Thangka painting business for 30 years, said, "I will never worry about rainwater getting my Thangka wet again."

Pargor Street is located in the central area of Lhasa's traditional downtown and surrounds the famous Jokhang Temple. Vendors of various ethnic groups, such as Han, Tibetan and Hui, once crowded the street, blocking the way for prayers to the temple.

The relocation not only improved the business environment for vendors, but also helped beautify the environment for downtown residents, said Liu Liang, deputy secretary of Lhasa's Chengguan District Committee of the Communist Party of China.

                                                                                                                   Editor: Lily Li