Enhancing far-flung villager's lives

Most officials spend anywhere between one and three years working in remote villages as part of the Tibet autonomous region's plan, launched in 2011, to develop grassroots communities.

But Phurbu Tsering, an official with the Gyirong county government, is an exception - he has been working in Ta village since 2013.

The 52-year-old was a secretary and township head elsewhere in the county for more than a decade before coming to Ta, with its population of 532 spread across 119 households.

Working with the villagers brings him great happiness, he said, which is fortunate as he has had only three vacations in the past 25 years.

He seldom visits his wife and children, who live in the county town, because it is difficult to travel between there and Ta, which is surrounded by thick woods and snowcapped mountains.

Since arriving in the village, Phurbu Tsering has managed to effect several positive changes, such as putting up fencing to keep wild boars and monkeys away from the villagers' crops.

He raised money for this project by applying to the local government, which provided 150,000 yuan ($22,200) as well as calling on his friends, who collectively gave an additional 40,000 yuan.

The official also opened the village's first shop, which sells goods brought in from Lhasa, as well as a mill to grind flour for tsamba, a staple foodstuff in the region made from roasted highland barley flour mixed with butter tea.

"The villagers can now purchase their daily necessities without spending a lot of money or having to travel very far," Phurbu Tsering said.

"We do charge a fee for grinding flour or milling tsamba, but all the profits go to a common fund, which is used for other public needs, such as paying the medical bills of the poor."

The village's only road, barely wide enough for a single car to traverse back in the 1990s, has since been widened, and work started in March last year on a new road, which will serve every household and link the village with the nearest town.

It has not all been plain sailing for Ta over the years, however.