Tibet region greets Indian pilgrims

The Nathu La Pass in the Tibet autonomous region received this year's first officially organized group of Indian pilgrims on Wednesday.

The 38 pilgrims will travel to Mansarovar Lake and Mount Kailash in the region's Ngari prefecture in the following 12 days. Both sites are regarded as sacred by Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Tibetan Bon practitioners.

This year, the pass is expected to see about 500 such pilgrims from India making the 2,874-kilometer pilgrimage, said Yang Zhigang, deputy director of the office of foreign affairs and overseas Chinese affairs in Xigaze, the region's second-biggest city.