The National Tourism Bureau is mapping out a schedule to develop tourism resorts along the Qinghai-Tibet railway, Xinhua news agency reported today.

China plans to develop nine tourism areas along the railway in the next five years and will promote special tour routes.

The schedule is expected to be finished this year.

The 1,956-kilometer-long railway, running across the frozen tundra of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet Autonomous Region, to Xining, the capital city of Qinghai Province, will undergo trials on July 1.

Forty-five stations are set up along the railway with sightseeing platforms. Trains will stop at every three to five platforms so tourists can take in the magnificent scenery.

Before the line was built, the Qinghai-Tibet area was only linked with the rest of China by highways and air routes, which hindered the development there. The railway will now help boost the economy in the Qinghai-Tibet area.

Tibet is expected to host 2.5 million tourists this year. In the next few years, profits from tourism are expected to double in the area, with the number of tourists growing by 20 to 30 percent.

Last year, 1.8 million tourists visited Tibet, bringing 2 billion yuan (US$250 million) in revenues.

The first Qinghai-Tibet Railway created history by linking the Tibet Autonomous Region with the rest of China, opening up China's southwestern region.

China began construction on the railway in 2001 at a cost of 26.2 billion yuan. The Chinese government hopes the project will boost Tibet's social and economic development, along with improving the residents' living standards.