A traditional blue Tibetan opera mask at the Shigatse Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition on August 27.

The 16th Mt. Qomolangma Culture and Tourism Festival is currently underway in Shigatse, Tibet. During the festival, an intangible cultural heritage products sales exhibition was opened on August 27.

The local intangible cultural heritage products from 18 counties in Shigatse Prefecture, including Namling, Gyantse, and Lhatse counties attracted the attention of many local residents and tourists.

At the Lhatse County Exhibition Area, tourists lingered at a display of Lhatse Tibetan Knives, which has a history of over a thousand years. At the same time, dramnyen stringed instruments of different sizes and beautiful styles were also very popular, where a crowd gathered to listen to their melodious sounds.

At the Namling County Exhibition Area, young, middle-aged, and elderly craftsmen demonstrated bronze carved pieces, leather works, and Tibetan shoes. One of the elderly craftsmen, Achung, has been making leather products for 17 years, and he is currently a craftsman at the Namling County Xianghe Ethnic Leather Products Co., Ltd. He made the bags and handicrafts sold at the exhibition himself. He said, “I make more than 5,000 yuan each month, and my income is very stable.”

Most of the craftsmen who work with Achung at the Xianghe Ethnic Leather Products Co., Ltd. are young people. As intangible cultural heritage products are becoming more and more in demand, more young people are choosing to learn traditional Tibetan skills for comparatively better salaries.

An elderly artisan is sewing leather products at the Shigatse Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition on August 27.
A young thangka painter is painting at the Shigatse Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition on August 27. 

A pottery display at the Shigatse Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition on August 27. 

Miniature traditional pottery utensils displayed at the Shigatse Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition on August 27.
An elderly artisan is making traditional Tibetan shoes at the Shigatse Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition on August 27.

Staff at the Shigatse Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition display Tibetan honey to reporters on August 27. 

According to a head of the Xianghe Ethnic Leather Products Co., Ltd., the young man currently making bronze sculpture is just 20 years old, but he has already become a Tibet Autonomous Region-level inheritor of intangible cultural heritage. The bronze sculptures that he makes have been exported to the United States and are very popular.

In addition, other popular intangible cultural heritage products being displayed at this exhibition include wooden bowls from Gyirong, pottery from Shetongm?n, and Tibetan incense from Gyantse.