China: A Tibetan woman’s multifaceted journey

Nenkasman poses for a photo with her husband in front of their home in Qiaoqi Tibetan Township of Baoxing County, Ya’an City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Oct. 8, 2025. Nenkasman, 40, hailing from Qiaoqi Tibetan Township in Baoxing County, Ya’an City, has been leading a diverse life.

In 2007, Nenkasman and her husband started a family-run guesthouse and engaged in nature education. They led children participating in study tours onto pastures for hiking and bird-watching, collecting plants along the way to make specimens.

Around a decade ago, Nenkasman began recording daily life and culture in her hometown with videos. During this process, she noticed that traditional skills once essential to local women — yak wool spinning and Qiaoqi floral sash weaving — were gradually fading as fewer people were willing to carry them on.

Determined to protect and pass on these techniques, she established a textile handmade studio in 2016, combining traditional craftsmanship with innovative design to produce backpacks, scarves, belts, and other handicrafts. She marketed these products through fairs and online sales. As orders increased, Nenkasman shared them with village women, enabling them to earn extra income during the off-season of farming. More than 50 women have since engaged in the part-time job under her guidance.

Today, Nenkasman’s studio is attracting growing numbers of schools and craft enthusiasts for visits and hands-on experiences. In her Tibetan guesthouse, the culture space she established is taking shape, welcoming more visitors. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Nenkasman demonstrates yak wool spinning at her studio in Qiaoqi Tibetan Township of Baoxing County, Ya’an City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Oct. 7, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Nenkasman (L) instructs a tourist to experience the techniques of yak wool spinning at her studio in Qiaoqi Tibetan Township of Baoxing County, Ya’an City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Oct. 7, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Nenkasman (L) teaches weaving techniques at a villager’s home in Qiaoqi Tibetan Township of Baoxing County, Ya’an City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, April 1, 2025. (Photo by Zhu Tao/Xinhua)

Nenkasman (R) drinks tea with a tourist at her guesthouse in Qiaoqi Tibetan Township of Baoxing County, Ya’an City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Oct. 8, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Nenkasman (L) introduces the flowers and seeds she collected to a tourist in Qiaoqi Tibetan Township of Baoxing County, Ya’an City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Oct. 7, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Nenkasman (L) introduces the procedure of yak wool spinning to a tourist at her studio in Qiaoqi Tibetan Township of Baoxing County, Ya’an City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Oct. 7, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Nenkasman (R) displays the video she recorded to Lu Juntang, a graduate student who is conducting a research here in Qiaoqi Tibetan Township of Baoxing County, Ya’an City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Oct. 8, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Nenkasman prepares lunch for tourists at her guesthouse in Qiaoqi Tibetan Township of Baoxing County, Ya’an City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Oct. 8, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Nenkasman (R) and Lu Juntang, a graduate student conducting a research here, decorate the culture space in Qiaoqi Tibetan Township of Baoxing County, Ya’an City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Oct. 8, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Nenkasman (L) introduces the Qiaoqi floral sash weaving to a tourist at her studio in Qiaoqi Tibetan Township of Baoxing County, Ya’an City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Oct. 7, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Nenkasman (1st R) shoots a video in a field in Jiajinshan Village of Qiaoqi Tibetan Township of Baoxing County, Ya’an City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Oct. 8, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

This photo shows Nenkasman’s guesthouse in Qiaoqi Tibetan Township of Baoxing County, Ya’an City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Oct. 8, 2025.

Reference Link:- https://english.news.cn/20251010/bc617b1565b04a0f8d0b8361d194646a/c.html;

Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan Founder & Chair, Global Silk Route Research Alliance

Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…

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