Northwest China's Qinghai improves weather services for monasteries

XINING - Northwest China's Qinghai province improved meteorological services for monasteries in all its six Tibetan autonomous prefectures since October, sending around 1,000 professionals to identify hidden hazards and promote risk aversion.

Situated in the northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Qinghai has more than 600 Tibetan Buddhism monasteries scattered in the Tibetan-inhabited areas which take up 90 percent of the provincial territory.

Age-old monasteries, usually built near mountains and by rivers, can be easily affected or even damaged by changeable weather conditions and meteorological disasters, said Ngamqen Doje, a monk from Dogonma Monastery in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Golog.

Hua Xiu, deputy head of the provincial United Front Work Department, said the popularization of meteorological knowledge will cover all monasteries in Qinghai by 2020, bringing monks and nuns greater peace of mind.

Qinghai has forged ahead with public service and social security in recent years, with full coverage of medical insurance and pension security among Buddhists.