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A Senior Official in Tibet Is An Internet Surfer
He is not only a senior government official in the Tibet Autonomous Region, southwest China, he is also one of the more than 16 million Chinese Internet users.
Yang Song, vice-president of the regional government, usually surfs on the net for more than one hour before going to bed every night. During weekends and public holidays, he often stays on the net for two to three hours a day.
"I'm interested in all the information about the development of the western region and all matters relating to Tibet," Yang said, adding that "I can get many information and materials in this regard on the Internet."
Yang started surfing the Internet life as early as 1997 when he studied at the Party School of the Communist Party of China Central Committee in Beijing. He remembers clearly that the first article he read on the net was a discussion about a popular film at that time.
Since there was no Internet service in Lhasa, the regional capital, Yang could only browse on the Internet when he was on business trips in the less technologically developed areas of China.
"I should have been engaged in science and technology. I love natural science and all of the new things," said Yang, who is concurrently the secretary of the Qamdo Prefectural Committee of the Communist Party of China.
Yang, 50, is a 1976 graduate from the physics department of Xinjiang University. He worked in Ali Prefecture in Tibet for 15 years (1976-1991).
"Qamdo Today," an idea Yang came up with, is the first website in Tibet. It was launched in November of last year. At the same time, the telecommunications department also opened "163" Internet service, and Yang became one of the first Internet users in Qamdo Prefecture.
He has bought a new computer and keeps in contact with his friends through e-mails.
"I get the latest information mainly through the Internet," said Yang. "Because of where I live, the newspapers I get are old news by the time they reach me."
Qamdo, which means the "eastern gate of Tibet," is located in the area irrigated by the Lancang, Nujiang and Jinsha rivers, with high mountains and deep valleys.
"The Internet helps me with a lot with my work," said Yang. However, he also complains that it takes him too long to connect to the Internet, because the bandwidth is narrow and it is too crowded on the net.
Qamdo now has more than 100 Internet users, and only three of them are allowed to surf on the Internet at the same time due to local conditions.
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