Surviving tough conditions

Tibet's harsh environment can be the biggest challenge for officials and professionals from the inland areas taking part in the national Aid-Tibet program.

"I grew up in a poor countryside in Shaanxi and thought the situation in my hometown was tough, but Tibet is tougher," said Han Junwen, a 47-year-old agriculture specialist working in Ngari.

When Han first arrived in the prefecture in the west of Tibet in 2005, he took a shower only once a month because of lack of water.