Lhasa hosts more tourists than ever in 2017

LHASA -- Lhasa, the capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, received a record high of 16 million tourists from at home and abroad last year, or up 17.6 percent year on year, the city's tourist authorities said Sunday.

The historical city earned tourism revenue of 22.74 billion yuan (about $3.5 billion), also a record high and up 22 percent, said the Lhasa Municipal Tourism Development Commission.

The plateau city is home to a legion of cultural heritage sites, such as the Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple. It improved its tourist accommodation last year by adding to new tourist areas, hotels and movable toilets and the operation of helicopter travel service, which enables tourists to have a bird's-eye view of the city.

Lhasa plans to continue to upgrade rural roads and build more toilets in 2018. Construction of a cultural park featuring Thangka silk painting will start and a folk museum is expected to open.