This Day, That Year: May 7

Editor's note: This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China.

On May 7, 1990, the Sino-American-Soviet Peace Expedition team reached the peak of Qomolangma, as seen in the item from China Daily.

Known as Mount Everest in the West, it is the world's highest peak. Since the mountain was first scaled in 1953 by Edmund Hillary from New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay from Nepal, it has become a popular landmark for travelers in recent years.

Visits reached 140,000 last year, with significant negative consequences to the environment from human behavior, especially the discarding of rubbish, local authorities said.

To protect Qomolangma's environment, the Tibet autonomous region's sports bureau introduced a garbage management regulation this year.

Last year, the autonomous region carried out three large-scale garbage collection drives, which collected 8.4 metric tons of rubbish left on the mountain by climbers.

This year, the cleanup will continue, and the remains of deceased mountaineers who perished above a height of 8,000 meters will be recovered.

Meanwhile, the region's Dingri county banned travelers in December from entering the core zone of Qomolangma National Nature Reserve higher than Rongpo Monastery, around 5,000 meters above sea level, for reasons of environmental protection.

The highest position tourists can reach is now 2 kilometers from the Qomolangma base camp.

The reserve's 10,312-square-km core zone, home to one of the world's most vulnerable ecosystems, continues to be open to mountaineers with climbing permits.

Moreover, since last year, climbers can only climb Qomolangma during the spring.

The number of climbers given permits has been reduced to 300 per year.