CHENGDU, July 14 (Xinhua) -- In a workshop in southwest China's Sichuan Province, a discarded aluminum can left behind by a guest at a village homestay is melted down and recast as a snow leopard, using the ancient craft of Lima copper casting. The intricate technique has been practiced by Dawa Drolma's family for seven generations.
It involves blending gold, silver, tin, zinc and other metals. For centuries, Lima copper was used mainly for Buddhist statues and ritual objects. Dawa Drolma and her brother have since introduced rings, necklaces and pendants, bringing a craft once associated with temples into everyday life.
The transformation reflects a broader trend across China's Tibetan-inhabited regions, as a new generation of artisans and entrepreneurs adapts centuries-old traditions for contemporary markets, while preserving the techniques and stories that define them.
Dawa Drolma grew up witnessing the challenges of bringing these treasures beyond her hometown. The aspiration took her to the United States in 2013, where she pursued marketing and business management studies. She returned to Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture four years later, determined to transform the family workshop.
"Young Tibetans today understand both our own traditions and the outside world," she said. "That allows us to build a bridge between them."
Maisu Township, where her workshop is based, is home to over 30 handicraft workshops and over 2,000 artisans skilled in copper casting, black pottery, incense-making, yak-hair weaving and more. The "Maisu Handicraft" brand, registered by Dege County, has brought greater visibility to these traditional crafts, while drawing visitors and study groups from home and abroad.
Innovation, however, has meant more than finding new customers.
The recycled aluminum used in Dawa Drolma's snow leopard sculpture comes from beverage cans left behind by guests at a nearby homestay. Blended with traditional Lima copper, it has given the centuries-old craft a new form of expression.
The story unfolding in Maisu is not unique. Across the plateau, other traditional crafts are also finding new forms, as well as new markets.
In Gyangze County in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, Pulu, a traditional Tibetan woolen fabric, has been woven for more than 2,000 years. For generations, it was used mainly for traditional Tibetan robes and hats, reaching only a limited market. That began to change in 2023, when Sandriver, a Shanghai-based fashion company, partnered with local artisans to develop scarves, shawls and back cushions using traditional weaving techniques and locally sourced cashmere.
The first batch of handmade scarves, priced at 3,200 yuan (about 471 U.S. dollars), sold out within two days, reflecting strong market interest.
Since then, Pulu has steadily gained international recognition, appearing at Paris Fashion Week, entering Le Bon Marché in Paris and reaching luxury hotels overseas. Earlier this year, selected works were showcased at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.
The international recognition has come not because the craft has abandoned tradition, but because it has found new ways to express it.
"We hope the world will better understand the contemporary value of Chinese intangible cultural heritage," said Guo Xiuling, founder of Sandriver.
As Tibetan handicrafts reach wider markets, some brands are placing as much emphasis on the stories behind their products as on the products themselves. One of them is Jiaru, a Chengdu-based lifestyle brand whose name means "connection" in Tibetan.
Alongside felt products, jewelry and traditional Tibetan boots redesigned for contemporary consumers, the company shares online stories about the people behind them: herders who now earn extra income in workshops close to home, and Tibetan women in Qinghai Province finding new opportunities through making traditional boots.
The brand has built a following of more than 40,000 overseas social media users.
Designers are reinterpreting the flowing silhouettes of traditional Tibetan dress, turquoise ornaments and motifs inspired by mountains, wildlife and traditional patterns for contemporary fashion, while preserving techniques such as weaving, embroidery and natural dyeing.
The result is not a return to the past, nor a break from it.
As the snow leopard cools on Dawa Drolma's workbench, it represents more than a finished piece of craftsmanship. Cast with techniques passed down through generations yet shaped by a young artisan with a global outlook, it reflects how a new generation is carrying tradition forward -- not by preserving it unchanged, but by giving it new life. ■
