Ethnic culture thrives in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, SW China

Villagers weave traditional belts in Lixian County of Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 11, 2020. Located in northwest of Sichuan Province, with nearly one million population, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture has a diversity of ethnic minority groups, including Tibetan, Qiang and Hui, etc. In recent years, to better inherit the ethnic culture, local schools have introduced more traditional cultural courses while local authorities set up training workshops about intangible cultural heritage to help local villagers learn traditional crafts, as a way to boost their incomes. In 2018, the production value of cultural industry in this prefecture has reached about 1.2 billion yuan (about 169.8 million U.S. dollars), accounting for 3.32 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) of this prefecture. (Xinhua/Liu Kun)