Before the Peaceful Libereation in Tibet, the local people led a miserable life. In the past 60 years, their life changed greatly with the support from the central government.

The vast serfs and slaves in Tibet had nothing with them before liberation. In the 1950s when human civilization witnessed great progress, Tibet was still a society of feudal serfdom under theocratic rule, a society which was even darker than medieval society in Europe.

Under that system, the serf owners, who accounting for less than five percent of the total population of Tibet, possessed almost all the means of production; while the serfs and slaves, who accounted for more than 95 percent of the population, had nothing, let alone human rights.

U.S. renowned Tibetologist Tom Grunfeld wrote in his book The Making of Modern Tibet: "that most of the Tibetans were serfs; their fates were in the hands of their owners; they did not have right; they must get permits from their owners before getting married." Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme, who participated in the negotiations on the "17-Article Agreement" pointed out in the 1940s, "all believe that if Tibet goes on like this the serfs will all die in near future, and the aristocrats will not be able to live either. The whole Tibet will be destroyed."

By 2010, all the farmers and herdsmen with comparatively backward living conditions had moved to safe and comfortable housings. Since 2006 when the government launched the construction of socialist new countryside focusing on comfortable housing project, a total of 1.4 million farmers and herdsmen in 274,800 families have moved to safe and comfortable housings with per-capita living space of 24 square meters, realizing the goal of providing comfortable housings for all the farmers and herdsmen with backward housing conditions throughout the autonomous region.

The per-capita net income of farmers and herdsmen reached 4,138 yuan in 2010. Now the free medical service system in agricultural and pasturing areas is benefiting all the farmers and herdsmen of the autonomous region.The average lifespan of people in Tibet has increased from 35.5 years before liberation to 67 years now; and the population also increased from more than 1 million to three million. 99.2 percent of school-age children can receive school education and the illiteracy rate of the young and the middle-aged people was reduced to 1.2 percent.

Meanwhile, efforts have been made to promote construction of water supply, power supply, road, telecommunication, gas supply, radio and TV stations, post offices and beautiful environment in agricultural and pasturing areas as a whole program. Historical changes have taken place in these areas. With the improvement of people’s livelihood, they also diversify their consumption structure and common people are using refrigerators, color TV sets, computers, washing machines, motorcycles and cell phones.

(Sources from the People's Government Information Office of the Tibet Autonomous Region)