The Chinese government proudly announced that trial services of its Qinghai-Tibet railway, the highest rail line ever built, will begin July 1st, and that the tickets have already been sold out. That the government wanted to quash any lingering notions of independence in Tibet by bringing it more firmly into the Chinese economic orbit with this audacious infrastructure project, there is no doubt. I myself have almost no reservations in saying that this is an entirely good thing, because of the poverty experienced by most of the inhabitants of Tibet. If nothing else, it will hopefully also bring better food (I rank Tibetan food as the worst on earth - if anyone can think of anything nastier than yak milk with tsampa every day, please tell me).

My issue concerns more the safety arrangements of the trains, which the People's Daily somehow makes sound equivalent to a cruise on Cunard:

For travelers to have sufficient time to enjoy the natural beauty on the plateau, the passenger trains will depart in the morning and arrive in the evening.

Meanwhile, this world's highest and longest plateau railroad will have two oxygen supply systems on trains to combat the effects of altitude sickness on passengers.

Oxygen will come from a system like central air-conditioning on trains, which can ensure the oxygen content in carriages at about 85 percent of that in plain areas, said Ma, adding that oxygen masks will also be installed near seats for passengers to use in case they still feel sick.

I for one could not be paid enough to get on that first train, and happily leave the task to hardier souls.