28JUNE07 The Beginning (of the end?)
Article in today's Xinhua on the phenomenal growth in trade along the trade corridor between Qinghai and Xining over the past year. One only needs to consider the resulting impact on chinese migration to the region as well as the cultural impact and dilution. But hey, this is "progress", and that's good, right?

Railway lifts Tibet's foreign trade by 75% in 10 months
www.chinaview.cn 2007-06-28 14:02:30

LHASA, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Tibet has seen its foreign trade rise by 75 percent to reach 322 million U.S. dollars in the ten months since the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the first to link Tibet with the rest of China.

The figure breaks down into 100 million dollars of imports and 222 million dollars of exports during the period between July 1 last year and April 30 this year, up 170 percent and 51 percent respectively, Lhasa Customs statistics show.

The growth in foreign trade is largely due to the opening of the 1,956-km-long Qinghai-Tibet Railway on July 1 last year, between Xining, capital of northwestern Qinghai Province and Lhasa, capital of southwestern Tibet Autonomous Region.

"The railway helped reduce high transportation costs, boosting the flow of commodities between China and south Asian nations and regions," said a spokesman with Lhasa Customs.

Here's the original link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-06/28/content_6302995.htm