They offered their best meat and dishes. One dish left a deep impression on him: sour meat.

　　"At first I thought it was a special local taste," Cao said. "Later I learned that, because there was no road, people usually did not have refrigerators. Medog is also hot and humid, so meat spoiled quickly. That is why local people got used to eating sour meat."

　　Under those conditions, it was hard to imagine significant development in the county.

　　Zhao Shuai, a civil servant in Ganden Township in Medog, came from Central China"s Henan Province after university and chose to settle in this remote area. His experience gave him a deep understanding of the saying: "If you want to get rich, build roads first."

　　In his view, transport is the first condition for development. "Before the road was opened, cement that cost just over 300 yuan ($44) per ton in inland provinces could sell for 20,000 yuan in Medog," Zhao said. "Under these conditions, how could Medog develop?"

　　Spare no expense

　　The file photo displays a suspension bridge inside the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon in Nyingchi taken on November 8, 1998. Photo: VCG

　　Today, Medog"s old title - "the last county in China to gain road access" - has become a kind of "signboard" that attracts tourists.

　　At the monument marking the opening of the Medog Highway, near the Galongla Tunnel, an inscription records the long history of road building in Medog. The highway to Medog was rebuilt four times - in 1965, 1974, 1980 and 1990 - but none of these efforts led to lasting road access. It was not until 2013, when the Zhamog-Medog Highway opened, that Medog finally achieved the dream of road access.