BEIJING, Nov. 19 (Xinhuanet) --  Grandma Deqen lives on the Barkhor Street in downtown Lhasa, capital of Tibet, and calls herself a "permanent resident" of the street.

   Hearing venders hawking and seeing different faces on the street everyday, she has numerous stories to tell about this ancient street.

Grandma Deqen looking at a picture. Grandma Deqen lives on the Barkhor Street in downtown Lhasa, capital of Tibet, and calls herself a "permanent resident" of the street. (Photo: tibet.cn) Photo Gallery>>>

   Located in the center of the ancient city of Lhasa, the Barkhor Street is considered the best-preserved street in the city and has been attracting a host of domestic and foreign tourists.

    The street was built in the mid-7th Century, and its name is transliterated from a Tibetan word, which means "the street that circulates the Jokhang Temple."

    Deqen said that seniors on the street live a relaxed life. They usually get up at 5:00 in the morning, clean their houses and then begin the most important activity of the day: walking along the street around the Jokhang Temple.

    As their livelihood is improving steadily, the seniors have more requirements for their cultural life. They go camping out in parks together, where they sing, dance and do exercises whenever possible.

A photo of the whole family of a senior living on Barkhor Street, Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (Photo: tibet.cn) Photo Gallery>>>

    They also go to sacred Buddhist places in other parts of China in groups every year. If any of them is in trouble, his/her friends will come in help. Some of the seniors are entitled to government subsidies as well.

    The aged residents always say that their life today is what they even did not dream of in the past. Their life today is so easy and diverse that they can get together wherever they like and go on pilgrimages wherever they want.

    "I've been to Mt. Wutai in north China's Shanxi Province and Mt. Leshan in neighboring Sichuan Province," said Deqen.