That may sound like an unseemly approach to the world's tallest and most forbidding peak. But on balance, it will actually be a good thing.

Earlier this year, China opened a new paved road that winds 14,000 feet up the slope and stops at the base camp parking lot. Plans are in the works to build an international mountaineering center, complete with hotels, restaurants, training facilities, and search-and-rescue services. There will even be a museum.

Such amenities are appalling to trekking purists, who prefer Nepal's rugged and largely undeveloped landscape. But China hopes they'll bring economic growth to politically fractious Tibet, promote tourism and help popularize winter sports ahead of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. (Not incidentally, it's also building 800 new ski resorts.)