Tuesday 22 March 2022

Tibetans spoilt for choice, with more fruit, vegetables on the table

 


KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 -- Sunday is a weekly shopping day for Tashi's family. As for groceries, the family is spoilt for choice, with much more than previously.

“When I was a child, dumplings and canned food were my dream feast,” said 70-year-old Tashi while shopping in Porgor Street of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

Today, he has a variety of edible oils to choose from, while browsing at a supermarket. “I have so many choices, just to buy cooking oil, including olive oil, walnut oil, rapeseed oil, and so on.”  

According to a statement, in 1959, Tibet's total grain output was only about 180,000 tonnes.

Fast forward to 2021. Tibet’s booming express delivery enterprises changed all that for the better, with the region's grain output reaching a new high of 1.07 million tonnes, topping one million tonnes for a seventh straight year.

Meanwhile at the Yaowangshan farm produce market, approximately 300 metres west of the Potala Palace square of Lhasa, Yudron, 68, who bought some asparagus said: “In the past, when the New Year came in winter, we had to stock up on vegetables in advance, mainly radish, cabbage and potatoes. Now, I buy whatever I want.”

In another supermarket, resident Nyima picked avocados in the fruit area to make a nutritious breakfast. He said: “It was hard to buy any avocados in Lhasa six years ago, but now, I buy as much as I like.

“Thanks to Tibet's booming express delivery sector in recent years, we have more varied fruit choices such as durian, mangosteen, and loquat.”

Express delivery enterprises in Tibet handled 14.85 million parcels during 2021, up 30.4 per cent year on year, data from the local postal administration showed.

Apart from agricultural products from other parts of China, Tibet has also built plateau vegetable and fruit industry bases around its cities. Its self-sufficiency rate of vegetables in Summer and Autumn has reached 85 per cent.

-- BERNAMA

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