LHASA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Tibetans in poverty-stricken areas will have a chance to make their way out through traditional craftsmanship, since 10 workshops were set up Saturday in the county of Nyemo in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, local authorities said.
The workshops are expected to promote employment and shake off poverty as local residents learn to make intangible cultural heritage handicrafts, such as Tibetan incenses, Nyemo sutra streamers (Buddhist prayer flags), Pusum hand-engraving, and Xoleg paper-making.
"Those workshops will not only introduce traditional handicrafts to Tibetan people, but increase their income," said Long Zhigang, deputy head of the regional department of culture.
Basang, a member of the local specialized Xoleg paper-making co-operative, earns 3,000 yuan (447 U.S. dollars) a month and has bought new furniture and agricultural machinery for his family since he started to learn the craft three years ago from Cering Doje, a real master and inheritor of China's national intangible cultural heritage.
A volunteer group consists of 25 inheritors of intangible cultural heritages have conducted training programs in Nyemo County, with the help of a one-million-yuan state earmark in 2018. Additional funding will continue this year.
