The Ngari Prefecture in China's Tibet Autonomous Region is expecting this year to host 100,000 tourists, 10 times more than in the past year.

Doje Cering, secretary of the Ngari Prefectural Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), told Beijing-based China's Tibet journal that his prefecture has decided the year 2002 will be the year of tourism.

Many Buddhist believers will make the pilgrimage to Mt. Kailash as this year is the year of the water horse according to Tibetan calendar and Mountain God Kangrinboqe's birthday also falls on this year.

Ngari, which has an average altitude of over 4,500 meters, has a total area of 345,000 square kilometers. Despite having some tourism resources, the prefecture is one of China's poorest areas.

A great number of activities will be organized to entertain tourists mainly from May through August, said the secretary, who also emphasized that the prefecture would also make a good use of this festival to showcase the great achievements Ngari has made in the past decades.

Doje Cering has pledged to seize chances created by the country's campaign to explore the vast west, and the challenges brought by China's entry into the World Trade Organization. He also hopes to develop Ngari's economy while keeping the extreme local conditions in mind.