Nomads, you've got mail

A Tibetan postman's dogged perseverance has bridged the huge gap between China's highest township of Pumachangthang and the outside world, Palden Nyima reports in Lhasa.

Rain or shine, Tsering Chopa drives a truck, steers a motorbike, pedals hard, rides a horse and treks for long hours to deliver good news－and sometimes bad. For 17 years, the Tibetan mailman has been an indispensable link between a remote, high-altitude settlement and the rest of the world.

At 5,373 meters above sea level, Pumachangthang in Nakarze county of the Tibet autonomous region is China's highest township. The oxygen level is less than 40 percent, the annual average temperature -7 C and the average life expectancy only 49.5 years.

As if the dizzying altitude and the bone-numbing weather weren't challenging enough for a postal service, Pumachangthang is inhabited by nomads, who travel across the grassland at least a few times a year to ensure their livestock get enough grazing ground. In other words, they have no permanent address.

The area of the township is about 1,500 square kilometers, almost the size of Mexico City, but its population is less than 2,000. The distance from the county town is some 70 km and a single trip to all the six villages, covered by the China Post service, can be as long as 160 km. The dogged perseverance required to get a delivery job done under such conditions needs no elucidation.