Work in Tibet has started on a US$6.4m (€5.7m, £4.4m) museum about Mount Qomolangma – better known as Everest.

Sitting at the base of Everest in Tingri County, the 234,500sq ft (22,000sq m) museum will be built over five storeys, displaying fossils collected from the mountain, as well as animal and plant specimens. The museum will also feature exhibits about local Tibetan culture and the area’s relationship with the mountain.

The Tibet autonomous region of China has seen tourism development in recent times, with the country's highest ski resort also earmarked for the area as part of a five-year plan ending 2020.

The large majority of tourists coming through the area visit to climb Everest. According to official statistics from Tingri's tourism bureau, the Mount Everest base camp in Tibet received 1,116 visitors in the first quarter of 2016, up 45.1 per cent year-on-year.

The museum – one of few major developments for the Tibet base camp – is expected to open in 2018.