Involvement in Qinghai's rich heritage yields rewards

Before Thubten Palding returned to his hometown, many visitors to Lasitong village, Chindu county, Qinghai province, would leisurely stroll through its stone-lined lanes, admire the traditional Tibetan houses and leave before the day was over.

The reason? Too few places to eat and nowhere suitable to stay overnight. Thubten Palding, 33, saw opportunity in the gap.

He believed that if visitors could sit down for a meal, learn about local culture and spend the night, tourism could generate more lasting benefits for residents. Since returning after graduation in 2015, he has invested more than 3.6 million yuan ($531,000) in 11 businesses, including homestays, restaurants, a resort, specialty shops and cultural exhibition spaces. Together, these enterprises employ 23 local university graduates and other residents.

Elsewhere in Yushu Tibetan autonomous prefecture, university graduate Pema Chozhong is pursuing a similar goal through traditional handicrafts. After returning to Zadoi county, she joined a workshop founded by her mother, helping turn yak hair into cultural products while creating employment opportunities for local women.

Although their ventures operate in different counties and serve different markets, they are rooted in the same idea: young people can bring home the knowledge and experience gained elsewhere and find new value in resources their communities have long possessed.

One is giving travelers reasons to stay longer, while the other is creating products that can travel beyond the plateau. Their experiences show how returnees are combining local culture with modern business ideas to create livelihoods close to home.

"Only when visitors stay can local people gain more employment and income opportunities," Thubten Palding said.

Traditional attractions

Lasitong, in Labu township of Chindu county, is a traditional Khampa Tibetan village along the Tongtian River.

Its stone houses, distinctive layout and long-established customs have garnered a growing interest among travelers. After the 2010 Yushu earthquake, reconstruction efforts were concentrated on preserving the village's traditional appearance while improving living conditions.

Lasitong was included in the sixth batch of Chinese traditional villages in 2023. Traditional villages refer to those with both material and intangible forms of cultural heritage, and which have a high historical, cultural, scientific, artistic, social, and economic value. A cultural tourism project launched in Lasitong in 2022 aims to combine cultural experiences, ecological tourism, health-oriented vacations, study tours and local cuisine.

For Thubten Palding, the changes strengthened his decision to return.

After graduating from a transportation college in Qinghai and later completing undergraduate studies at a sports college in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, he briefly worked as a temporary reporter at a county television station. He was also involved in Tibetan-language broadcasting and editing. The experience allowed him to closely follow developments in his hometown and recognize the potential for tourism created by improvements in infrastructure and public services.

"As investment increased and conditions improved, more visitors began to arrive," he said. "But food and accommodation had to keep up. Otherwise, tourists would look around and leave that afternoon."

Turning the idea into a viable business required considerable investment. Renovating the second and third floors of a rented building cost more than 600,000 yuan.

The annual rent for the property is about 50,000 yuan. Some of Thubten Palding's restaurants perform well, while other projects are still cultivating demand. After deducting wages and other costs, the businesses generate at least 200,000 yuan a year, but his overall investment has yet to be fully recovered.

He remains confident because visitor numbers have notably increased. Tour groups have come from Zhejiang and Hunan provinces, as well as Beijing, while self-driving tourists and individual travelers are also becoming more common.

Sustainable income

For local residents, tourism is providing more job opportunities. Employees at Thubten Palding's businesses earn an average of about 3,000 yuan a month. Entry-level positions pay around 2,000 yuan, while experienced chefs can earn as much as 8,000 yuan.

The homestays and resort incorporate Tibetan decorative elements, while the exhibition spaces introduce visitors to local customs and ways of life. Thubten Palding envisions accommodation spaces serving as not only places to sleep, but as a window into the village's culture.

His responsibilities have also expanded beyond running businesses. He became head of the Lasitong village committee this year and also serves as a county political adviser.

In Sulu township of Zadoi county, Pema Chozhong and her fellow artisans are following a different route.

At their workshop, loose yak hair is sorted, washed, degreased, spun into yarn and colored with natural dyes. In the hands of local women, material that might otherwise have had little use is transformed into traditional items, ornaments and storage boxes.

Pema Chozhong returned after graduating in 2022 and joined the traditional craft business established by her mother, Yongga, in 2018.

"I grew up seeing my parents make traditional handicrafts," Pema Chozhong said. "After returning, I realized that I could bring back what I had learned outside and help introduce products from my hometown to a wider market."

Empowering women

Yongga founded the workshop out of concern for both cultural preservation and women's employment.

Many women in surrounding pastoral communities possessed weaving and handicraft skills but spent most of their time caring for children, managing households and tending livestock. They lacked a platform to turn their skills into income.

The workshop began with eight women. It now has 23 participants and has provided handicraft training to more than 400 women through rural vitalization programs.

"When women come together, they learn from one another," Pema Chozhong said. "One person teaches what she knows, and another shares a different skill. They begin to see that their work has value."

Family support was crucial in the early years. Pema Chozhong's grandparents helped with household responsibilities so that Yongga could devote more time to the workshop. Assistance from local women's federations and other government departments with funding, training and promotion also helped the business grow. After graduation, Pema Chozhong joined a grassroots support program, which sends college graduates to grassroots posts, and worked in Sulu township for two years. She spent weekends at the workshop, learning from the artisans and discussing how traditional products could better fit modern life.

The result has been a gradual expansion beyond conventional designs. Among the newer products are cosmetics storage boxes that combine traditional techniques and decorative elements with practical functions for younger consumers.

In 2024, Pema Chozhong traveled to Chengdu, Sichuan province, for training and met female entrepreneurs who shared their experiences of building businesses. The trip gave her a clearer goal: to improve the products and eventually develop a recognizable local brand.

The workshop now generates about 230,000 yuan annually. Its products cost more than mass-produced alternatives because each piece is handmade and the yak hair must go through multiple stages of processing.

Sales, however, remain concentrated in the local offline market. Pema Chozhong hopes to recruit more young people with design and marketing ideas while continuing to involve women who need flexible work close to home. For Pema Chozhong, the workshop's value is not measured only in sales. Women who once saw themselves mainly as caregivers now earn their own income and take pride in helping preserve Tibetan culture. "Traditional crafts cannot remain exactly as they were in the past," she said. "They need to be preserved, but they also need innovation. Only when young people like the products and use them in daily life can the crafts continue."

yangzekun@chinadaily.com.cn