Chindu county has about 8,000 students studying at primary and middle schools. Compared with the situation years ago, parents now are starting to change their minds about sending their children to school, said Kunga Lodru, principal of Lab Ethnic School in Chindu county.

Lab Ethnic School has 220 students boarding there, more than 60 percent of enrollment, because of the long distance between the school and their homes. The distance made parents reluctant to send their children to the school. Rich families can pay for their children to ride in small vans running between villages and the township of Lab.

In late March, some yaks were spotted on the gray hills and mountains in the dry season. These were the only source of income for thousands of households in the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau. In addition to the cattle, Tibetan people dig in May for Chinese caterpillar fungus, which sells for 140,000 yuan ($22,500) per kg.