During each Mid-Autumn Festival, the Tibetans also invited the CREC4 employees — who worked far away from their hometowns and could not get back for family reunions during the traditional festival — to their homes for a get-together, he said, adding that he was touched by the gesture.

Wang Hao, a staffer at the publicity department of CREC4 Second Engineering Co Ltd, which sends the builders to Xizang for construction work, said his colleagues have forged a deep bond with the local Tibetan residents during the course of their work.

On Oct 1, the Tibetan residents in Dingdrong village of Bome county, which is administered by Nyingchi prefecture, invited the CREC4 builders working nearby for a celebration to spend the National Day holiday.

At the start of the event, the Tibetans presented Khatas to the CREC4 builders, expressing their deep thanks for the construction work.

The Tibetan villagers and the CREC4 builders jointly carried out a number of cultural and sports events with unique Tibetan features, such as holding sandbags, a tug of war and high-altitude basketball matches, attracting much mirth from the spectators.

The enjoyable moments made them blend in amid colorful flowers with the snowy mountains and grasslands in the background, Wang said.

Feng Jun, an official at the CREC4 project department, said, "We need to create a favorable external environment for promoting smooth and stable construction here."

He said the event boosted ethnic ties of "the Han people and the Tibetan people being one big family" and created a harmonious atmosphere.