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Feature: Tseyang's new life

Xinhua, February 1, 2017 Adjust font size:

Tseyang wants a bank loan to open a new restaurant in the center of Xigaze as her current restaurant in the city outskirts does not receive as many customers as she hoped.

The Tibetan woman, 51, previously lived in Zham, a border town in Tibet Autonomous Region, neighboring Nepal, but was relocated to a new community in Xigaze after a magnitude 8.1 earthquake hit Nepal on April 25, 2015. The quake severely damaged Zham port, once a major trade hub between the region and Nepal.

Like other quake-hit residents, Tseyang's family now lives in a government-funded apartment in Xigaze, Tibet's second largest city.

One month after moving, Tseyang partnered with three housewives and opened a Nepalese restaurant near Zham Mall, which was built with local government help for quake-hit border trade merchants.

"I encouraged them to start up a business together. And opening a special restaurant with Nepalese food is a good choice," Tseyang said.

Luckily, they received aid worth 30,000 yuan (4,374 U.S.dollars) from a local hospital to outfit the restaurant. The government exempted the rental fees and tax, and they made a profit, even in the first month of operation.

The restaurant was temporarily closed as the nearby shopping center was shut down during Spring Festival. It will reopen on Feb. 9.

With her husband in poor health, Tseyang has to earn income to support their son Dradul who will graduate from a university in central China's Hubei Province this year.

"We cannot just wait for aid," she said, stressing that employment was important to improving their lives.

At the new Zham community, displaced residents each receive a government resettlement fee of 15 yuan per day, and other subsidies such as a minimum living allowance and ecological compensation.

More than 200 people have found jobs in the new community.

Tseyang, also head of the community's women federation, aims to help more displaced people find jobs. The community has more than 100 women in their 40s.

After conducting a survey in the city center, she found there was potential for Nepalese restaurants.

"The current site is a bit far from the town center and the flow of people is not so big, but opening restaurants in the city center means high rental fees. So we need bank loans," she said. "It would be much better if we could have funding support for startups." Endi