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The railway linking Qinghai in China with Tibet carried 5.95m tourists between the time of its opening in July 2006 and the end of 2007, it has been revealed.

Tibet's tourism bureau said that this number accounted for 43% of all tourists visiting the autonomous region in south-west China during the period.

The Qinghai-Tibet railway, which is the highest train route in the world, has proved an important part of the growth that the Tibet tourism industry has enjoyed recently.

In 2007, the region welcomed 4.02m overseas visitors, an increase of 60% on the previous year, according to the Xinhua state news agency.

This year, tourist numbers are expected to reach 5m, an annual increase of 25%, and revenue in the industry is expected to climb to some 6bn yuan (£428m).

Tibet is a popular location among adventure travellers, as with an average elevation of 4,900 metres, it is the highest region on Earth.

The majority of the Himalayan mountain range lies within Tibet and the world's highest peak, Mount Everest, is located on the Tibetan border with Nepal.

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