Dongya ， a 35-year-old woman ， is up to her neck preparing breakfast in a big kitchen in north Lhasa, according to today's China Daily.

    But she is not cooking for customers or for her husband and children.

    Her relatives are about 700 kilometres away in Yardong County of the Shigatse Prefecture and， over the past few years， the once-a-month family reunion has been the happiest moment for them.

    Dongya has done one thing that she will regret for the rest of her life. And for that action， she is serving a nine-year term in prison.

    On May 19 ， 1995 ， while working in a post office in Shigatse， Dongya embezzled more than 90 ，000 yuan（US$10 ，843 ）， a big sum for the small utility.

    This act， along with another transgression - which she declined to detail - sent her to the Tibetan Prison. She was sentenced to 9 years in the autonomous region's largest prison according to Article 155 of China's Criminal Law then.

    "At first ， remorse and anger preyed upon my mind， so much that I thought I had no courage to live on ，" said Dongya.

    Soon， Dongya was taking law classes in the prison. For the first time she understood the detrimental effects of her actions.

    She knew that she had to answer for what she had done ， and that how she behaved at the cell would decide how soon she could return to society.

    She obeyed the rules and regulations of the prison， and was soon released from her confinement to do minor labour within the prison.

    Dongya chose cooking.

    In the Tibetan Prison ， the monthly food supply for each criminal includes ： 20 kilograms of grain， 5 kilograms of meat and 15 kilograms of vegetables ， according to Lobsang Gelleg， vice-director of the Tibetan Prison Management Bureau.

    Inmates in Tibetan Prison also receive ghee （yak butter） and ghee tea， which is not available to inmates of other prisons in China， Lobsang said.

    A May 18 menu for the inmates reads ：

    Breakfast ： ghee tea and tsamba（roasted barley， a traditional Tibetan staple）；

    Lunch ： rice ， meat stewed in radish；

    Supper： bread， cabbage and noodles.

    Dongya said the prison had allowed representatives of the inmates to form a meals management committee， which helped ensure the hygiene and nutrition of the food for the inmates.

    In total， Tibet has three prisons， two in Lhasa and one in Bome of the Nyingchi Prefecture， according to Meng Deli ， director of the Justice Department of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

    Altogether there are more than 2，300 inmates in the three prisons ， he said.

    Among the jailed， 85 per cent are found guilty of either robbery ， theft， corruption or murder. Ten per cent have confessed to have engaged in sexual crimes and 5 per cent are convicted on espionage， subversion and terrorism ， indicated statistics from Meng's department.

    Three-fifths of the inmates do some light work. Female inmates， for example ， do some gardening and knitting. Male inmates plant vegetables， farm ， repair cars and raise animals， Meng said.

    They work four days a week， and less than six hours a day.

    "In addition to classes ， working is also a kind of education for the inmates ，" said Meng. "We think that by requiring the inmates to work ， they will learn skills with which they can make a living after they finish their terms."

    The State has allotted 1，800 yuan（US$217） a year for each inmate's meals ， but in the Tibetan Prison， each inmate has been provided with 2，000 yuan（US$241） for meals. The income from the inmates' labour is invested in improving the meals ， according to Meng.

    Apart from cooking， Dongya also attends a school in the prison， where she is learning mathematics， which is taught in the Tibetan language.

    "With ample staff and equipment ， the school is especially designed to eliminate illiteracy among the inmates， and allow them to finish middle school，" said Lobsang.

    Cooking and learning aside， Dongya spends most of her time reading ， watching TV and writing to her family.

    In her latest letter， Dongya tells her husband that she will be back in one year and 10 months， an early release of one year.

    This is because Dongya has behaved well. Recently ， she prevented some of the inmates from disobeying the rules of the prison， according to prison wardens.

    Because of her good performance in the prison ， Dongya has been allowed to meet with her husband and children in her home every New Year's Day and during the Spring Festival by the Tibetan calendar， they said.

    "I'll remold my life and have a new beginning after re-entering society ，" said Dongya.