Traditional leather processing helps generate wealth for villagers in Lhasa, SW China's Tibet

Tsering, an inheritor of leather processing, an intangible cultural heritage of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, presents a handcrafted leather product. (People's Daily Online/Tsering Norbu)

Junpa village of Quxu county, Lhasa city, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, has had a tradition of leather processing since ancient times. About 70 percent of households in the village produce leather handicrafts such as small handicrafts in the shape of boats, and small bags for tea and zanba, a traditional Tibetan staple food of roasted barley flour, engaging in their craft inside workshops at home and then selling their wares to tourists. The craft was listed as an intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of Tibet in 2010. Seven years later, led by Tsering, an inheritor of the ICH, the village established a cooperative for leather processing to generate further wealth for local villagers.