Local Sharpas practice a Kora religious ritual. The ancient religion and its unique culture make Lixin an attractive new tourist attraction.

Tibet's biggest land port Khasa has lifted many border residents out of poverty over the last three decades and brought even more opportunities for them to improve their quality of life.

Located in a thick forest on a hillside in Dam town, Lixin village - or Ladrong as locals call it - is a settlement of Sherpa, an ethnic group with a very small population that lives in the Himalayan valleys in the border areas of China and Nepal.

Phurba, a native of Lixin, quit his comfortable job in the public sector two decades ago to run his own businesses.

When he graduated in the 1990s, Phurba was the first university graduate from his village.

"I could make myself very comfortable with a stable job, but I couldn't help my relatives and villagers much," Phurba said.

The 48-year-old said many of his relatives and villagers had hard lives due to harsh living conditions and low literacy 20 years ago, so he quit his job to try to help them.

At Khasa Port where he worked before, Phurba learned to speak five different languages.

When it became known he planned to quit that job, many of his friends asked him to teach English in Lhasa, but he rejected that idea as well.

"It was correct that I spoke good English at the time, but I wanted to teach English to the residents of my hometown," he said.

When he returned to Dam, he operated a English training program for one year.

Following that, he traded wool and cloth at Khasa Port for several years.