时间：2022-06-03 04:12:56
Lhasa entrepreneur Dondrup Tsering， born to a nomadic family and captivated by the grasslands， has a distinctive dual motive： earning a profi t while preserving Tibetan culture.
His vision， in which the nomads of Maqu County in Gansu Province earn enough to maintain their traditional lives among their pastures and livestock， started with a robe shop and then expanded to include a yak dairy.
“Fast-growing urbanization means many nomads no longer continue their traditional nomadic lives on the grassland. Instead， they come to the cities to live，” Dondrup said. “Their living conditions changed with the migration， and many parts of Tibetan culture are vanishing in this way.” Keeping young people on the grassland will help to preserve the traditional Tibetan culture， including nomadic singing， storytelling， weaving， horse racing and yak racing， he said. “I want to help them to stay on the grassland， and the key to that is to make it possible for them to make good money on the grassland，” he said.
This is no old man’s fantasy. Dondrup is just 30. He had been working as an editor at the Tibet People’s Publishing House for more than three years when he quit his job to pursue his dream. He fi rst opened a Tibetan clothes shop in Lhasa. Competition is daunting， both in design and pricing， Dondrup said， “Forcing continual innovation and lower costs. Competitors will either copy or create similar products， or lower the price for the same products， so creativity is always needed. I have had many failures with businesses， but I have never given up， because I want to live for my dream.”
Born in Maqu County in the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu Province， an area famous for its wildfl ower-carpeted grasslands， fl ocks of sheep and herds of horses， Dondrup exemplifi es the changing prospects for Tibet’s youth.
With rapid economic development and social progress， more young people are leaving the nomadic lifestyle to move to the cities for employment， business ventures and other opportunities.
“Most local young people choose to find government jobs， such as government servants or teachers. Meanwhile， some people， especially young people from the outside， like to do business in Lhasa，” said Zhang Lina， a postgraduate student at the College of Economics and Management of Tibet University. “The number of young Tibetans engaging in business is rising， as there is relatively less competition compared with other Chinese provinces， and Tibet is in the process of rapid development.”
The government of Tibet Autonomous Region is also encouraging young people to create businesses by making it cheaper and easier to get started， such as reducing requirements for registered capital， the amount investors must have to start a company. “In the past， the registered capital for a small or medium enterprise was at least ten million yuan. Last year， the government reduced the registration to zero，” Zhang said.
Influenced by his parents， who have long operated a Tibetan robe business in Maqu， Dondrup started his first business in 2005， while still a college student studying Tibetan literature at Northwest University for Nationalities.“There is an annual horse racing festival on the grassland in my hometown. I sold horse-related products during my summer vacations a decade ago，” he said.
The inspiration for his clothes shop came from seeing how many rural Tibetans exchanged the colorful robes they wore in their villages for ordinary city clothes when they traveled to Lhasa. “When I saw how many Tibetan people do not wear Tibetan robes in the city， I became sad， and I began to think how to encourage them to wear Tibetan robes in the city，” Dondrup said. So he innovated. “With their long sleeves and heavy volume， traditional Tibetan robes were produced according to the aesthetic standards of Tibetan people in the old days，” he said. “New robes had to be made in order to satisfy the needs of modern Tibetans.” He chose the Tibetan word Khawajan， which hearkens to the snowcapped hills， for his company’s name. The clothes have caught the fancy of young Tibetans， especially students who study outside of Tibet but want clothes that signal their roots， Dondrup said.
Mimar Tsering， 23 years old， a student at Tibet University， said he likes the fit and the style. “As a student， I find the clothes made by Khawajan more convenient than the traditional ones because the robe has short sleeves and a popular style. It’s convenient to wear， and with Tibetan design， it is more fashionable.”
With increasing interest in the brand， Dondrup has opened ten branch shops in other Tibetan communities， such as Xining， the capital of Qinghai Province， and Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai Province.