Sherab Gyatso, a store manager, looks at an apple delivered here by Xainza County's Supply and Marketing Cooperative at a direct sales store in the remote Beiga No 4 village in Xainza county, Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region, Jan 5, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

LHASA - The Xainza county in Nagqu city, Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region, situated at an average elevation of 4,700 meters. Traditionally, local herders' diet relies on meat and tea, lacking fruits and vegetables.

To address this, the local authorities initiated a pilot project in 2019, ensuring the delivery of fresh and affordable fruits and vegetables to the remote townships in Xainza county.

The Xainza County's Supply and Marketing Cooperative, investing nearly 3 million yuan, spearheaded this effort by establishing a fresh storage reserve and revamping 16 direct sales stores across counties, townships and villages. They also introduced refrigeration units and transport vehicles.

Usually, staff members here have to prepare goods from cities hundreds to thousands of kilometers away, transporting them to the county before distributing to the townships and villages.

Presently, Xainza county hosts 44 direct sales stores for fruit and vegetable distribution, covering 69 percent of administrative villages.

In 2023, this pilot project brought 217.9 tons of fresh fruits and vegetables into Xainza residents' homes, constituting 30 percent of the county's total fruit and vegetable consumption.

Staff members of Xainza County's Supply and Marketing Cooperative load goods to be delivered to remote towns in Xainza county onto a truck in Lhasa, Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region, Jan 2, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

Trucks loaded with 50 tons of fresh fruits and vegetables purchased from Xining city of Northwest China's Qinghai province pass through the Tanggula Mountain pass in Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region, Jan 3, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

Tsering Samdrup, a distributor of Xainza County's Supply and Marketing Cooperative, prepares goods to be delivered to a direct sales store in the remote Beiga No 4 village, at the central store in Xainza county, Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region, Jan 5, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

Bara, a distributor of Xainza County's Supply and Marketing Cooperative, prepares to deliver goods to a direct sales store in the remote Beiga No 4 village, from the central store in Xainza county, Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region, Jan 5, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]