Buchung’s Way to Wealth

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Lhodrak County is situated in the southern part of Tibet Autonomous Region. Using the Himalayas as a point of demarcation， the south flank connects with the Kingdom of Bhutan along a 154-kilometer border. With the geographic and climatic discrepancy between the northern and southern fl anks of the Himalayas， the vegetation at these two parts shows an obvious and apparent diff erence. Therefore， the mutual exchange patterns on diff erent goods at both sides of the border have been naturally formed. From time immemorial， people residing in the border regions such as the towns of Sras， Lhakhang， Banpa， and Sangge within Lhodrak County actively exchange goods and commodities with Bhutanese， and bazaars are all natural. Special goods and commodities produced in Tibet， including animal husbandry products and salt， are bartered for products made from bamboo and rice produced in Bhutan. Since the 1980s， the local government has been encouraging development of the border trade which led to the gradual booming of small-sized trade activities. In recent years， local residents have taken full advantage of the growth of China’s manufacturing to promote the border trade business. Some people residing along the border take outstanding action and advantages to show off their business capacities in order to increase their cash income from border-trade activities. In July of 2014， this author conducted an interview of buchung， a local business man embarking on trade business of border areas and living in the town of Sras in Lhodrak County. His stories about his way to wealth enable us to understand the status quo of the livelihood of those Tibetan residents along the border.

“My name is Buchung， and I am 41 years old. I was born in Chukhyilsmad Village in the town of Sras. My father once took the position as governor of Chongye County and as the director of the People’s Congress. He retired ten years ago and returned to my village since then. My mother， brother， and I are living in Sras as countryside folk. When I was a child， I only spent one year studying in primary school and then dropped out to graze herds because my mother was overloaded with housework and nobody could take care of the family herds. At that period， my family had over twenty heads of yaks and forty heads of sheep. I grazed herds for about eight years until the time when I was eighteen years old， and then I began to learn skills and dream to be either a carpenter or businessman. I made some income from my produced furniture and brought in a little from running a village canteen. In the year 2000， when I was 27 years old， I handed the canteen over to my wife and began to run my transportation business for commercial goods. At the very beginning， I only had a small pickup truck， but recently， I turned it in for a big one. I drove the truck around to many places， and it broadened my horizons. In 2005， I contracted the Sakhar Guthok Monastery in Sras in order to help manage its guesthouse. This monastery was built by Milarepa， the senior master of the Kagyu Sect of Tibetan Buddhism， where it is also sacred Buddhist land visited by a tremendous number of pilgrims from Qinghai， Sichuan， and other places in China. I had already contracted this guesthouse for three years and earned a net income of about 30 thousand yuan annually.

“The Bhutanese like commercial goods produced in China， such as rubber shoes， tea， quilts， cushions， toothpaste， straw-made hats， lamps， thermos bottles， and cell phones equipped with Tibetan music and songs. Of course， diff erent people have different tastes with regard to their trade businesses. In 2013， my trade was focusing on purchasing over 2，000 wood bowls plus some belts， bamboo blankets， and silk cloth. （Usually， one coat needs two meters of cloth at the price of 480 yuan but is sold out at the price of 800 yuan）. One type of special wood bowl is made of fir. Purchasing costs amount from around ten to fi fteen hundred yuan， but I could sell them out in Lhasa at the price of about four thousand yuan. I also sold our goods to the Bhutanese， such as gold， which they prefer to use to decorate Buddhist statues or for personal accessories （at least for rich people）. I bought it at the price of 380 yuan per gram but sold out to the Bhutanese at 450 yuan per gram. In addition， my 2，000 strings of milk dregs （purchased at eight yuan each） were sold out at the price of ten yuan per string. My Tibetan incense fi lling about 1，300 boxes and 125 kilograms of Tsampa （highland barley powder） were all sold out at a good price. In short， my trade in total in 2013 was about 300 thousand yuan， and I made a profi t of over 100 thousand yuan. I have my own truck， and I drive it between Lhasa， Tsethang and other places. I prefer to ask them what the local people want. For instance， several Khampa businessmen run shops in the Barkor Market in Lhasa， and they like to sell Bhutanese goods. I am used to consulting with them and then making a call to my Bhutanese partners to order goods. They commonly send their goods， and we meet at the foot of the mountains （at the upper reach of Sras River and the north flank of the Himalayan mountains） to exchange goods. We usher animals to Lhapu Hot Spring and do our business. We carry cash with us， around several hundred thousand yuan. Since it is such a large amount， we have to book with our banks in advance to make sure we can withdraw the money. The exchange rate between the Chinese yuan and Bhutan currency is one to fi ve.

“Up to today， border trade in Sras is quite well-known in the southern area of Tibet. In summer days， plenty of businessmen come there， and people from Sichuan come to run the restaurants. Tibetan people from different counties also come to run motels， inns and shops. It seems that everybody is in competition when it comes to seeing who the hardest workers and who the most capable people to run businesses are. Pretty soon， everybody earns at least a little profit. From the perspective of all of Lhodrak County， the average income of those living in Sras is higher than other towns. Among all the villages comprised within Sras， Chukhyilsmad is the highest rated. This is because my village is not far from Bhutan， and we have kept a very good relationship with the Bhutanese， and many of them are even relatives of Bhutanese.

“In recent years， several illegal immigration cases occurred and resulted in strict border management， with many regulations then being issued by the authorities. For example， animals as transportation goods at border-trade locations must be immunized and isolated for seven days before they are able to be released to herds. All these initiatives are to prevent disease since there is no immunization system that exists in Bhutan. Then， of course， businessmen from outside must have health checks， and business seems to be declining because of these. Nowadays， my business has changed direction to contract construction businesses as an increasing investment to the community by the government. It is planned for every village in the community to have good roads， and many projects are contracted directly to local herds and farmers. I have my own construction team along with requisite machines and equipment， and every year， I have won tenders to construct roads. In 2013， my contract business provides me an income of several hundred thousand yuan or more. At present， I have my own company and also run a workshop to produce Tibetan incense. I employ thirteen local workers and pay 2，500 yuan per month to each of them. In 2013， an asphalt road from Lhasa to Lhodrak has already been constructed， and soon， there will be more construction from the downtown area of the county to Sras. That means border business will turn out to be good， and I wish I could have more opportunities to run my border trade business.

“I have three siblings， all brothers， and they are very good at running business， providing good income for their families. What I am thinking about at this moment is how to allow for our village folks to have better lives. Even though I am rich， I wish I could lend my hand to those still in poverty. My initiatives in this regard have been fully supported by the town government. In 2013， I promised to donate one hundred thousand yuan to my village， and fourteen thousand yuan is especially used for charity projects， involving free donation of rice， tea blocks， and thermo bottles to those poverty-stricken families， not to mention the 5，000 yuan cash provided to each poor family. I also built a house for an especially poor family. By doing this charity work， I have learned to become really content. We keep faith in our religion. We believe that doing these benevolent acts will bring good retribution. If my economic situation allows for it， I’ll keep on doing this forever.”