As tourism grows, transport in Nyingchi has improved continuously, even though roads need further upgrading to draw more tourists, particularly those with their own vehicles.[Photo by Liu Xiangrui/China Daily]

A new road has been built connecting Pai town with Nyingchi, and although the trip still takes three hours over zigzagging mountain ridges, this is much shorter than was once the case, and the road is much better than the old one, she says.

Chodron's family has opened a rural inn to accommodate tourists who flood in during peak season, and there are seven other such inns in the village.

"Because things have improved so much I will definitely come back to work in Tibet after I graduate, and there will be many opportunities as tourism continues to grow," Chodron says.

High standards for ecological and environmental protection are being enforced to ensure that tourism is not detrimental to the city, Tenzin Sangdrub says.

In fact villagers' awareness of ecological and environmental protection have improved as tourism has grown Gesang says.