Photo taken on May 8, 2008 shows a mountaineer holding the Olympic torch on Mount Qomolangma in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. Tibet Himalaya Mountaineering Guide School celebrates its 20th anniversary in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on July 12, 2019. Founded in 1999, Tibet Himalaya Mountaineering Guide School, the first professional mountaineering training school in China, has trained around 300 graduates of high-altitude guides, kitchen staff, photographers, athletes and translators. As the congratulatory letter from the Chinese Mountaineering Association for the anniversary reads, Tibet Himalaya Mountaineering Guide School "has changed the situation of the scarcity of reserve talents for high-altitude mountaineering and mountaineering service people." Graduates from Tibet Himalaya Mountaineering Guide School have led more than 180 domestic or foreign climbers to reach the top of Mount Qomolangma. About 200 members have made it to the top of Mount Qomolangma successfully nearly 450 person-time. In 2008, several members of Tibet Himalaya Mountaineering Guide School joined the Chinese climbing team that carried the Olympic torch to the summit of Mount Qomolangma. Besides, graduates also play an important role in the fields of mountain rescue, scientific examination and environment protection. According to the school's data, a rescue team composed of the graduates has carried out 31 high-altitude rescues from 2002 to 2019, with a total of 41 people rescued. Some graduates are selected into the national cross-country skiing training team or national climbing team. (Photo by Zhaxi Cering/Xinhua)
