The 300-year-old Chomsigkang market in Lhasa, capital of Tibet, has resumed operation Tuesday, a signal that the city's largest commodity distribution center has returned to normal, according to an official with the market.

Nyi'ma Ngoizhub, a director of the market administration bureau, said that about 80 percent of the 1,300 vendors have reopened their booths, which sell more than 1,000 categories of goods and commodities.

"We are confident of the Chomsigkang market," said Chen Yun, a business woman from the neighboring Sichuan Province, while busy setting out the spices on her booth in the market, not far from the famous Porgor Street in the city.

The two-story market, which was severely damaged in the March 14 riot, sells commodities ranging from butter to garments.

Tibet's largest furniture market opened for the first time in Lhasa on the same day, with an investment of 10 million yuan (about 1.3 million U.S. dollars), covering 3,000 square meters, and selling more than 2,000 pieces of furniture.

(Xinhua News Agency April 8, 2008)