Tibetan crafts create new money stream

The cooperative has been providing jobs for more than 120 villagers since its establishment in 2012, including 76 poor people from 27 families. More than 3 million yuan has been spent on salaries. The families involved saw an average increase of annual income between 20,000 and 50,000 yuan.

Tsering Drolkar, who runs the cooperative, said more than 85 local families are shareholders. Typical shareholders received a dividend of 4,800 yuan last year.

Tsering Drolkar said that the cooperative mainly focused on traditional handmade products in the beginning, such as leather bags and woolen quits, but since 2014, it has begun to produce ethnic products featuring both modern and traditional elements.

"Traditional products are only sold locally, so there is not much profit. But modern products with ethnic culture elements are welcomed by consumers everywhere," she said. "Our products are sold via different e-commerce platforms."