Qomolangma base camp connected to State Grid

The base camp of the Mount Qomolangma, known as Mount Everest in the West, at an altitude of 5,200 meters, has access to reliable electricity since earlier this month, according to the Tibet Branch of the State Grid.

More than 1,011 households in 21 towns near the camp have access to electricity thanks to a two-year project, China News Service reported.

The project ran 85 kilometers of lines at an average altitude of higher than 5,000 meters, where the oxygen level is less than half of that in lower locations.

This is expected to end the history of electricity shortages and a reliance on intermittent solar power and generators at the base camp of Qomolangma, and tourists and climbers will enjoy more convenient services.

"Before our monastery had access to electricity, all power demands in the monastery relied on solar panels and generators," said Gyalbo, the director of the Monastery Administrative Committee of Rongbo Monastery.

"They were so unstable that we frequently had to use candles and butter lamps instead," he said.

Located at the roof of the world with a history of more than a century, the Rongbo Monastery is the world’s highest monastery.

Gyalbo said monks at the monastery have long wished for stable power, and the change means monks can now watch TV and listen to radios.