Changdu Prefecture, the first liberated area in Tibet, created many "firsts" in both the history of Tibet and the world over the past 50 years.
The first meteorological station in Tibet was set up in Changduon October 1950. The first hydrologic station was founded in Changdu in 1952.
Changdu Primary School, founded in 1951, was the first modern school built in Tibet. To date, Changdu has 181 schools of various kinds, which have cultivated 170,000 students in total.
There is a primary school in every township and a secondary school in every county in Changdu Prefecture.
The school attendance rate of school-age children has climbed to 80 percent. Some 48 percent of children complete junior middle school. The percentage of illiterate or semi-illiterate people has dropped from 95 percent to 48 percent.
The Bangda Airport of Changdu, with an elevation of 4,300 meters, is the world's highest airport. As the farthest airport from a city (about 130 km) in the world, it has the longest runway and is considered by domestic and international circles of civil aviation services as the most difficult airport for landing and taking-off in the world.
Machala Coal Mine in Changdu is believed to be the highest coal mine in the world while The Yulong Copper Mine, which has a verified reserve of 6.5 million tons, ranks first in Asia.
The Changdu Today Website, which started operation last November, is the first regional website in Tibet.
The 53-meter-high agricultural bank building is the tallest structure in Tibet.
(eastday.com 10/19/2000)
