Big day for the winners: Linda's tour in Tibet

Dictation by Linda Rosen; Text by Sun Yang

　　Top winners of CRI's "Beautiful Tibet" knowledge contest pose for a photo at the Lalu wetland, Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, July 3, 2009. The Lalu wetland is acclaimed as "the Lung of Lhasa" for its significant role in protecting Lhasa's environment. (Source: CRIENGLISH.com)

　　BEIJING, July 4 -- Friday is a big day for all top prize winners, because the award ceremony for the winners was held at the press conference hall of the Publicity Department of the CPC committee of Tibet Autonomous Region.

　　We prepared formal clothing for this big event. S.Selvam from India and Leela Mani Paudyal from Neal dressed in their traditional attire.

　　It was a very welcoming ceremony. There were speeches from officials from CRI and local publicity department. Two of our group gave a couple of speech on behalf of all the winners.

　　All winners received beautiful certificates at the award ceremony. The frame of the certificate was engraved with the eight Tibetan symbols. It was a nice present.

　　After the ceremony, I was interviewed by the Tibet Television. I think that I can see myself in television tomorrow evening.

　　We also had a very pleasant morning, visiting the Lalu Wetland and the Lhasa Museum.

　　Picture taken on July 3, 2009, shows some reeds and a herd of cattle in the Lalu wetland, Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (Source: CRIENGLISH.com]

　　The Lalu Wetland lies in the outskirt of Lhasa city. It is the home of many wild birds. The wetland has been developed over the last ten years with the support of the local government. Before that it was just some grazing land. It now provides a good habitat for wildlife.

　　In the distance we could see quite a lot of cattle, who were grazing on the areas near the wetland. They are owned by farmers in the neighboring area. It was nice to go to an area that is acclaimed as ‘Green Lung' in Lhasa. It does a lot for the environment.

　　The Lhasa Museum is a very large museum. It's a pity that we only had time to see certain part of it. We had a very interesting tour of the historical artifacts going back to the Neolithic times. The items found in the region show how people lived a long time ago. I think the most important part was the cultural section about the musical instruments and masks they used in drama, and for festivals. There were also a lot of beautiful paintings. I could easily spend a whole day there and enjoy everything more in detail.

　　Tomorrow will be the fifth day of our tour in Tibet. We are going to visit the Namco Lake, which is quite a drive away from Lhasa. On the way, we will be going over some very high passes. I hope that I won't suffer from any altitude sickness.