Analysis on the Current Situation of Language Service and the Advantages of the

Abstract. Tibet is one of the most attractive tourist destinations， its unique natural and geographical environment have created a unique snow scenery and cultural landscape reflecting to nature mutually. Based on the growing background of the Tibetan tourism， this thesis aims to describe the current situation of its language service and analyze its unique geographical location， rich and varied natural landscape， the distinctive features of historical sites， profound folk cultural connotation， and advantages of developing tourism offered by the transport network with "the Qinghai-Tibet railway" as a representative and the strong support of all levels of policy.

Keywords： Tibet， Travel services， Tourism， Advantages

1. Introduction

Tibet is located in the Tibetan Plateau named as “roof of the world”， with the average elevation of 4 km or more， and its unique natural and geographical environment have created a unique snow scenery and cultural landscape which reflecting to nature mutually， making Tibet become one of the most attractive and popular destinations in today’s international tourist market. In recent years， with the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet railway， the development trend of Tibet tourism shows a situation of blowout resulting in its increasing status and improving configuration. The government has even determined the tourism industry as its pillar industry to promote the development of Tibet which makes the advantages of developing the tourism in Tibet more obvious.

2. The current situation of service language

in Tibet tourism

There is a tremendous difference among various regions of China over the ethnic inhabited area and language usage. As Tibetan is the majority in Tibet， Tibetan national language is widely used. Over a long period in the past， as few people familiar with other languages， talents who can provide tourists from outside to Tibet with language service is relatively rare. With the improvement of principles and policies of the national language， many schools in the Tibet Autonomous Region carry out the Sino-Tibetan bilingual education， which not only safeguard the liberties of the people of all nationalities to use their native language but also benefit to mutual exchange of all ethnic groups. In some schools in better teaching condition， the teaching of the tri-lingual in Chinese， Tibetan and English are carried， offering a lot of translators to the local. At the same time， the continuous expanding of foreign tourist market resulting from Tibet tourism boom not only makes the practitioners of Tibetan tourism increasingly pay attention to the problems of language communication， resulting in the implementation of tri-lingual service in Chinese， Tibetan and English， and even French， Japanese， and other languages but also attract a number of guides who are capable of tri-lingual translation pouring into Tibet to give service to Tibet travelers， making the originally single language services more colorful. Domestic and foreign tourists rarely suffered the embarrassment of language barrier when they sightsee， shop and communicate during their travelling through the “roof of the world”.

Barkhor Street， located in the old city of Lhasa， is not only around the famous Circumanbulation of Jokhang Temple but also the most prosperous travel business center. Most clerks here are able to use Chinese， Tibetan， and English to do simple communication and exchange with customers， and a lot of goods with Tibetan characteristics are accompanied by detailed Chinese and English information for product introduction. It is said that in the Tibet Museum， narrators who are capable of Chinese， Tibetan， English， German and other languages service for foreign tourists， and explanation implements with Chinese， Tibetan， English and other languages are supplied. In other important attractions of Tibet， narrators having the capability of bilingual Han， Tibetan and other languages are arranged. At present， the number of people engaging in foreign language services is still growing and people’s desire of learning foreign languages become stronger and stronger.

3. The advantages of developing tourism in Tibet

With the international economy development， modern tourism has experienced an unprecedented developing period for the international tourism’s booming and domestic tourism’s great potential. In this situation， with its charming tourist resources and cultural connotation， Tibet attracts many domestic and overseas tourists having promising development prospects. As a whole， the advantages of the developing tourism in Tibet are concluded in the following aspects：

3.1 Unique geographical location

Tibet lies on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of the southwest border of China， to the south of Xin Jiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Qing Hai Province， to the west of Sichuan and Yunnan Province， to the north of Burma and to the east of India， Sikkim， Bhutan and Nepal. Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the birthplace of several major rivers in Asia and a collision and transfer place of Mesopotamia civilization， ancient Indian civilization and Chinese civilization. Only with its geographic location of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau， Tibet attracts the vision of the international tourists.

3.2 A variety of natural landscape

The topographic and geomorphic conditions of Tibet are very complicated. From the topographic view， there are Northern Tibetan Plateau， Southern Tibetan Valley and Eastern Tibetan Canyon. The northern Tibetan Plateau， accounting for 2/3 of the area of Tibet，is the area among the Kunlun Mountains， Tanggula mountains， Nyainqentanglha Range and the Gangdise mountains； South Tibetan Valleys refers to the valleys which the Yarlung Tsangpo and its anabranch flow by in the southern part of Tibet and lie between the Gangdise and the Himalaya ranges； the famous Hengduan Mountains， a series of east-west into the north-south high canyon area， is eastern Tibet. From a geomorphological view， there are plains， hills， low， medium and high mountains， as well as periglacial， karst， aeolian landforms， volcanoes and so on.

Tibet is also a province with the most international rivers distribution， in which there are a large number of rivers and lakes， such as the Indus， the Mekong， and the Ganges. Among them， more than 20 rivers have a drainage area of 10000KM 2 and more than 100 rivers have a drainage area of 2000KM 2， such as the Lancang River， Jinsha River， Nu River and Yarlung Zangbo River. In addition， there are 1500 lakes of various sizes in Tibet， accounting for 1/3 of the total lake area in China， including the most famous international highest lake Namsto Lake. These landforms， rivers and lakes formed unforgettable plateau scenery providing a rich natural landscape to the development of the tourism.

3.3 Distinctive characteristic relics

In Tibet， there are plenty of relics and rich cultural tourism resources. According to statistics， by 2009 there is a world cultural heritage， four historical and cultural city （town）， 35 national key units of cultural relics protection in Tibet， along with the two masterpieces of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity -- Gesar and Tibetan Opera， 60 national intangible cultural heritage masterpieces and 222 autonomous region-level intangible cultural heritage masterpieces. More than 1700 temples have formed a unique cultural landscape.

3.4 Folk culture with profound connotation

The majority residents in Tibet are Tibetans. As the most ancient religion of Tibet―Bon and Tibetan Buddhism which has penetrated into all aspects of social life in Tibet have a profound impact on Tibetan people， a deep connotation of folk customs and aesthetic taste have been formed. So far the living customs of many Tibetan are different from that of people who living outside， resulting in a temporal and spatial sense of distance which makes Tibet specially charming and attractive. All of Tibetan folk culture， generally including clothing， food， living， weddings， and festivals and so on， are manifestations of its rich history and culture. The robe is a kind of clothing reflecting Tibetan characteristics best. Although it has different materials and styles in different areas， Tibetan robe has always emerged colorfully， showing Tibetan’s rebellious and big-hearted with the blue sky and white clouds in the background. Traditional Tibetans take highland barley as their main food， for Zanba， the roasted barley flour has the unique flavor and the barley wine tastes sweet and refreshing. Their main drink is buttered tea brewed by salt， butter and tea which is different from the sweet milk tea known by modern people. The typical Tibetan houses roughly divided into the blockhouse and tents， respectively built in agricultural areas and pastoral areas. In the view of weddings and funeral arrangement， “celestial burial” is the most representative folk custom. There are quantities of Tibetan festivals as they almost exist in every month by the calculation of Tibetan calendar， and have a close relationship with Tibetan Buddhism. These folk customs， forming one of the advantages of the development of tourism in Tibet， make visitors enjoy different folk culture， feel passionate life style of the Tibetan people and experience the natural geographical charm without modification.

3.5 The transport network represented by Qinghai-Tibet railway

Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the world's highest and longest plateau railway， a landmark project for the implementation of western development strategy and one of the four major projects of the new century. Qinghai-Tibet railway north from Golmud in Qinghai， south to Lhasa， Tibet， east to Xining， throughout Qinghai and Tibet provinces， is the only route to link up Mainland， Tibet and Qinghai， an important part of the skeleton of the western hinterland road network， and the backbone railway of the future regional road network construction. It is the important project of Western Development and has national strategic significance. Meanwhile， the Qinghai-Tibet Railway， Qinghai-Tibet Highway and air traffic have formed a three-dimensional transportation， completely solving the problem of access to Tibet. Another effect of the construction of Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the promotion of western development for driving the characteristic tourism resources of Qinghai and Tibet and promoting sustainable development of the economy and the environment of the two provinces. In addition， it is no exaggeration to say that the railway is unique in the world， because of its plenty of scenery， with regarding the famous tourist attractions as points and regarding the railway as lines to link up 45 stations and nine viewing stations. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway Corporation plans to launch a luxury tourist train via the Qinghai Lake， Kunlun Mountains， Hoh Xil， Source of Three Rivers， grassland in northern Tibet， the Potala Palace and other world-famous scenic spots. In the aspect of road transport， centered on Lhasa， it is formed a main highway skeleton with “three vertical lines， two horizontal lines and six channels”.

4. Summary

All in all， there are many aspects of advantages of the development of tourism in Tibet. Making a combination of these advantages， grasping the needs of the market， developing new tourism products and routes are the key ways to promote the harmonious and sustainable development of tourism in Tibet， improve the Tibetan’s living standards and build up a harmonious socialist society.

References

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