Tibetan carpet industry thrives through innovation in NW China's Qinghai

The traditional Tibetan carpet industry is gaining new vitality in northwest China's Qinghai Province thanks to the efforts of inheritors.

Yang Yongliang, 60, is an inheritor of Tibetan carpet weaving skills in Jiaya village, Huangzhong district, Xining, capital of Qinghai. Jiaya Tibetan carpet weaving skills were inscribed into China’s national intangible cultural heritage items and have been passed on in the village for over 300 years.

Born into a family engaged in Jiaya Tibetan carpet weaving for generations, Yang could independently complete more than 20 procedures involved in the weaving of Jiaya Tibetan carpets, including dyeing sheep wool, twisting the threads, and winding the threads onto cones, since he was 15, and has been in the trade for more than four decades.

Yang Yongliang works on a Tibetan carpet in Jiaya village, Huangzhong district, Xining, capital of northwest China's Qinghai Province. (People's Daily Overseas Edition/Jia Fengfeng)

Yang said it took him one year to produce only five large finely-woven Tibetan carpets, and for that, he had to work at least 10 hours a day.

Due to complex procedures and the introduction of weaving machines, many handicraftsmen once quit and worked outside the village, but Yang insisted on the traditional craft.

"After visiting clients and Tibetan carpet plants, I made innovations in terms of the color, size and use of traditional Tibetan carpets, and blended natural scenery into them, making my Tibetan carpets well-received," Yang said. Today, Yang can receive orders worth nearly 100,000 yuan ($13,687) per year.

Several years ago, Yang established a workshop aimed at passing on Jiaya Tibetan carpet weaving skills. He offers training sessions on the intangible cultural heritage in prefectures and counties in Qinghai every year.

Workers produce Tibetan carpets at a workshop of the Shengyuan Carpet Group Co., Ltd. in Xining, capital of northwest China's Qinghai Province. (Photo courtesy of Shengyuan Carpet Group Co., Ltd.)

Located at an industrial park in Xining city, Shengyuan Carpet Group Co., Ltd. is a leading company in the Tibetan carpet industry. The company has continued to integrate the latest technologies and concepts into the traditional sector. "We aim to be a world-class Tibetan carpet company," said Xue Ting, the company’s general manager.

"The orders we receive now have been scheduled to be produced at the end of this year," said Xue. According to her, 70 percent of the company's 300-plus employees are women from nearby towns and townships, with each of them earning over 4,000 yuan a month.

Xue added that passing on Tibetan carpet weaving skills and keeping pace with the times can ensure the development of Tibetan carpets.

The company created 32 dyeing colors of sheep wool through trial and error, compared to 16 colors in the past, and guaranteed more colors after adopting a customized production model. It also introduced new skills to integrate manual weaving and machines, making its Tibetan carpets popular in the market.

A worker checks on the quality of a Tibetan carpet. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

In 2018, the company started deploying digital technologies and using intelligent equipment to weave Tibetan carpets, which not only improved efficiency but reduced the consumption of materials.

The Shengyuan carpet industrial tourism base was recently listed as a national industrial tourism demonstration base by China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

"We are not just a traditional Tibetan carpet producer. We have engaged in industrial tourism and educational tours, organized Tibetan carpet cultural experience activities, and developed creative products," said Xue.

A worker works on a Tibetan carpet. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

Last year, the company achieved sales worth 73.15 million yuan and exported $5.68 million of such products. Its export destinations include over 40 countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The company is just a microcosm of the thriving development of the Tibetan carpet industry in Qinghai. So far, the province is home to over 10 Tibetan carpet producers, and has established a complete industrial chain of the Tibetan carpet sector.

Last year, Qinghai rolled out 12 measures to further upgrade the Tibetan carpet industry and promote the high-quality development of the sector.

Photo shows finely-woven Tibetan carpets at a workshop of Shengyuan Carpet Group Co., Ltd. (Photo courtesy of Shengyuan Carpet Group Co., Ltd.)