Overview / Amenities / Demographics
Our Hospital is located in Yushu town (AKA Jye Kundo) which sits within the Yushu Prefecture of China's Qinghai Province (formerly Eastern Tibet).
Travel to Yushu is hazardous and involves a punishing 3 day journey from the UK through altitudes of almost 5,000 metres. The international flight from the UK to Beijing takes 10-18 Hours. The second leg of the journey is a 2-3 hour commercial flight from Beijing to the city Xining. Finally there is a 13-19 hour bus journey from Xining to Yushu.
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"Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, with an average elevation of about 4,000 meters above sea level, is one of the poorest and most isolated areas within the PRC. The prefecture seat, the town of Yushu Xian(3800m), is located approximately 880km south-west of the provincial capital of Xining (2700m). It is an area rich in natural mineral and forest resources and is characterised by vast grasslands covering high mountains and deep valleys. Three of the world's great rivers, the Yangtze, the Yellow and the Mekong converge just outside of Yushu Xian. Environmental degradation in the prefecture is evident with the grasslands having become desertified due to climatic change. Over the past decade a number of natural disasters including extreme cold with temperatures as low as -45°C, drought and flash flooding have left many families without an income due to the loss of their livestock and other income bases. As a result, many families have been made homeless and destitute."
Source: The Snowland Service Group (http://www.snowlandsgroup.org/)
"This land supports only minimal agriculture. In the valleys, high altitude barley and other crops are grown during the short summers. Up on the plateau, the altitude and harsh environment mean nothing can be grown. Nomads here are entirely dependent of their herds of Yak and other animals. The hillsides used to be covered with trees but are now mostly barren through deforestation which results in erosion and mud slides that further isolate the remote communities. As the villagers have only yak dung to burn in their fires there is a temptation to cut down anything that grows."
Source: Jinpa (http://www.jinpa.org/)