China Water: May 26, 2008: Tibetan bottled water.

Although almost two years old, this is a fascinating story. As stated, despite the possible harm caused to the traditional culture and economy of Tibet, there has been a decision in China to develop Tibet. Here we have a story of a Hong Kong businessman who has created a bottled water plant in Tibet with one of his primary markets being Chinese who, like many in the West, are enamored by Tibetan culture and religion. (Needless to say, I'd like to see some hard evidence that this water is the "healthiest in the world.")

Although the story is almost two years old, the company still seems to be doing well, and its website can be found here: http://www.5100.net/English/aboutus/aboutus.htm:

Note that the contact information for this Tibetan based, Hong Kong funded operation is in Beijing.

Peter Huston
===

http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?article=Sky+now+less+of+a+limit+for+Tibetan+water+bottler&id=13247

Sky now less of a limit for Tibetan water bottler
Globe & Mail[Friday, July 14, 2006 13:40]

By Geoffrey York

July 14 : At the astonishing height of 4,400 metres above sea level, a small factory on a Tibetan mountainside is believed to be the world's highest-altitude bottling plant. And it faces challenges that would be almost unimaginable for any other factory.

A new production line was delayed for weeks when an engineer fell victim to altitude sickness and had to be taken away. Motors in the factory need 20-per-cent extra capacity because of the oxygen shortage. Special bottles are required with stronger plastic to withstand the altitude. Production must halt in the winter when the water freezes.

Welcome to the daily struggles of Tibet Glacier Mineral Water Co., the latest investment project in the forbidding mountains of central Tibet, where nomadic herdsmen and roaming yaks are the only neighbours.

An entrepreneur from Hong Kong is investing about $63-million (U.S.) to develop the mineral water factory, which was founded last October and will begin shipping its products to Beijing and Shanghai by the end of this month. The factory already employs 30 local Tibetans, with the work force expected to rise to 100 employees when it hits full production.

The company, using German bottling technology, gets its water supply from natural springs in a valley below a 5,100-metre-high mountain peak in central Tibet, north of Lhasa. It touts the water as the healthiest in the world. The Danish brewing giant Carlsberg is helping the company with business advice and distribution channels. And now the company has another key advantage: Its factory is only 22 kilometres from a station on the new high-altitude railway that connects Tibet to the booming markets of the big cities in eastern China.

Because of the railway, the cost of shipping the mineral water to Beijing and Shanghai will be only one-eighth of the cost of shipping by truck.

The $4.2-billion railway is controversial among many Tibetans, who worry that it could destroy their traditional culture and autonomy.

But China has made a deliberate decision to develop Tibet's economy, regardless of the cost to the Tibetan culture, and the strategy seems to be working.

There are signs that the railway is boosting Tibet's economic revival, luring more foreign investors here and transforming the traditional subsistence economy of the Tibetan herdsmen into a more market-oriented system.

The railway is expected to help sustain Tibet's booming economy, which has grown by 12 per cent annually for the past several years. Tourism will be one of the leading sectors, with the railway bringing millions of tourists into Tibet. This, in turn, is stimulating foreign investment. There are reports that the Grand Hyatt and InterContinental hotel chains are planning to build properties in Lhasa -- not just for tourists, but also for business travellers.

Canadians are among the most active of the foreign investors in Tibet. The best-known Canadian companies here are Bombardier Inc. and Nortel Networks Corp., which played key roles in the railway. Bombardier built the high-tech railway cars, with their oxygen-enrichment system and their special windows to protect against ultraviolet radiation. Nortel built the communications system that allows the train engineers to talk to each other in remote regions of the Tibetan plateau, preventing disasters on the single-track railway.

Canadian mining companies are also increasingly active here. Continental Minerals Corp. of Vancouver is exploring a copper-gold deposit about 240 kilometres southwest of Lhasa. Another company, GobiMin Inc. of Toronto, recently spent $1.625-million to acquire a 30-per-cent stake in a Chinese company that has the exploration licence for a copper-zinc project in Tibet. And a third company, Sterling Group Ventures Inc. of Vancouver, is working with a Chinese partner to invest $30-million (U.S.) in a project to produce lithium carbonate from Tibetan salt lakes.

Mineral exports from Tibet are expected to represent 70 per cent of the freight traffic on the new railway, according to railway officials. But the railway could become even more important as China and India expand their overland trade routes. The railway, which now terminates at Lhasa, could be extended as far as the Indian border, which would give Tibet a much bigger role in the trade between the two emerging superpowers of the developing world.

"Lhasa could become the entrepôt between China and India," said Lawrence Brahm, a writer and businessman who runs a hotel in the Tibetan capital. "You are probably going to see a boom here, and not just from tourism."

Mr. Brahm sees another key asset for the Tibetan economy: the revival of the Buddhist religion in China, which has generated strong interest in Tibet's cultural products -- including its mineral water.

"Chinese consumers are looking for spiritual products, and that's a huge market," he said. "Glacial water is just one example of that."