Many people are familiar with Tibet's highland barley wine, but far fewer know that Tibet also produces wine. On March 6th, at an open group meeting of the Tibetan delegation, National People's Congress representative and Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Karma Tseten, passionately recounted the story of how highland grapes have become a source of prosperity, a tale once hidden deep along the Ancient Tea Horse Road. As early as the mid-18th century, grapevines took root in the Lancang River valley in Markam County, Qamdo. For generations, local people cultivated the grapes and produced wine by hand, with the craft continuing for over a century, yet it remained relatively unknown. In 2011, a local named Lobsang Tsering collaborated with experts from the College of Enology at Northwest A&F University to establish Tibet Markam Zangdong Treasure Winery. They launched the "Dameiyong" wine brand, marking the first time Tibetan wine truly entered the market as a commercial product. This fine wine from the roof of the world has since won multiple awards, including a gold medal at the 8th Asian Wine Quality Competition, gaining recognition beyond the plateau. By 2025, the company's output value reached 32.56 million yuan, increasing the per capita income of local growers and farming and herding workers by over 8,000 yuan. Karma Tseten noted that the highland wine industry in Tibet is now flourishing in multiple locations, transforming the once humble grape into a significant new industry that enriches the people and revitalizes Tibet.
A single grape has activated an entire industry and opened up vast opportunities for distinctive highland agriculture and livestock sectors. Tibet is leveraging its unique ecological advantages—abundant sunlight, significant diurnal temperature variations, and pristine land—turning them into drivers of development and prosperity, converting highland fruits into sources of happiness and increased income for residents. Empowered by technology, highland-specific agriculture is overcoming limitations of altitude, climate, and soil, becoming a new engine for high-quality growth and a key to rural revitalization.
In Nyingchi, the fruits of prosperity are evident. National People's Congress representative and Nyingchi City Party Secretary, Bata, responding to inquiries, highlighted that highland apples produced at 3,000 meters above sea level are of excellent quality and have been recognized as a national geographical indication agricultural product. Apple bases in Bayi District and Nang County generate over one million yuan in annual dividends for village collectives, with average monthly earnings for workers around 6,000 yuan. Last year, the tea industry in Medog County surpassed an output value of 100 million yuan, with fresh tea leaf production exceeding one million jin. Just the activity of picking tea leaves increased the average household income of nearby residents by more than 5,000 yuan. Bata reported that the city's fruit planting area has now reached 74,600 mu, while tea cultivation covers 54,000 mu. Villages and households are prospering by growing apples, kiwifruit, yellow peaches, and high-mountain tea.
Beneath the dense forests, vitality also thrives. In recent years, Milin Red Sun Family Farm has cultivated white-flesh Ganoderma lucidum using wild-simulated methods, cumulatively increasing local incomes by tens of millions of yuan. The Juela Village Matsutake Processing Cooperative in Gongbo'gyamda County has also boosted villagers' incomes by millions. After deep processing, Potentilla anserina from Bomi is sold as far away as Guangdong, raising the average annual household income by 12,000 yuan. Nyingchi's under-forest planting area now totals 20,000 mu. By extending industrial chains based on ecological resources, channels for increasing farmers' and herders' incomes continue to widen. Bata expressed great pride in stating that in 2025, the per capita disposable income of rural residents in Nyingchi reached 29,367 yuan, nearly 5,000 yuan higher than the national average.
From the aroma of highland wine to abundant harvests across the fields, Tibet's economic development and the increase in farmers' and herders' incomes are advancing steadily. It took 50 years for Tibet's regional GDP to surpass its first 100 billion yuan, only 6 years to reach the second 100 billion, and just 4 years to achieve the third. Similarly, it took 52 years for rural per capita disposable income to break the 10,000-yuan mark, but only 7 years to add another 10,000 yuan. Using its distinctive agriculture and livestock industries as a brush, Tibet is painting a magnificent picture of leapfrog development and prosperity across the snowy plateau.
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