Manager of Dropenling Store on Dongtsesur Road

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Dropenling， a well-known store to fans of Tibetan handicrafts， is located in an ancient courtyard of Chacai Gang. The exquisite traditional Tibetan handicrafts sold in this store are famous for their originality.

An Experience in Dropenling Store

The word “Dropenling” means to “benefit the public” in Tibetan. This is a succinct summary of this collective enterprise’s business model and principles.

In the quiet and narrow Dropenling store， you can see original handcrafts made in Tibet such as leatherwear made in Jumpa Fishing Village， puppets made in the small lanes of Lhasa， exquisite wooden boxes with ancient Guge mural designs， Tibetan carpets made in Panam countryside and so on. You will be amazed by the variety of Tibetan handcrafts. For example， there are 20 categories and hundreds of varieties of artworks sold in Dropenling store. In the store there are no dazzling pearls， Nepalese tapestries， metal containers of various sizes or wide-sleeved Nepalese Togas. Such goods are typical of most Lhasa souvenir stores for tourists. There are no large turquoise， crystals， surprisingly expensive Tibetan beads， bracelets and antiques， or huge containers inlaid with silver and gold either. These goods provide an income for large-scale tourist boutiques in Lhasa.

Nowadays， even young men from remote villages in Tibet are starting to use vogue shoulder bags to follow the fashion. Therefore， most collectors are really impressed by the variety of traditional Tibet artworks in Dropenling store. In this industrial age， Dropenling holds fast to the stability， grandeur and classical beauty of traditional Tibetan handcrafts.

What impressed me most were the large photos hanging on the walls of Dropenling. These are portraits of the makers of these exquisite handcrafts. One picture is of an old man from Tsang region in dusty trousers carrying a handmade thick Tibetan carpet under his arm. Another picture is of a Lhasa woman wearing a scarf and resting her cheeks on homespun soft wool. Their expressions are not the same but they have one thing in common： they all have hope in their faces.

Hard work brings fortune. Does Dropenling store give hope to Tibetan craftsmen in this market economy？

An Enterprise of “One Hundred Villages”

While I am talking with Nyima Tashi， the manager of dropenling store， I can hear the sound of metal objects beating together endlessly at Sholdo Pal handcrafts center.

Nyima Tashi is a local resident of Lhasa. He is of medium height and has curly hair. He can speak both Mandarin and English fluently. Unlike other businessmen in Lhasa， Nyima Tashi was a scholar at first. After he graduated from Tibet University in the 1990s， he worked in a state-owned enterprise for several years before leaving for the USA to further his studies. He studied English from the very beginning at the age of 27. Five years later， he got a master’s degree for Intercultural Management in America. Then， Nyima Tashi decided to return to Tibet and find a cross-cultural job or in management. He has been the manager of Dropenling since 2005.

I learned the difficulty of running a special social enterprise like Dropenling and developing the Tibetan artwork industry through our talks. According to Nyima Tashi， Dropenling is a brand run by a company named Jiacheng. Jiacheng sounds like Chinese. Actually， it is a transliteration of a Tibetan word， meaning one hundred villages. Led by Dropenling， Jiacheng intends to gather a group of Tibetan craftsmen and provide them with the technology， designs and even loans to make hand labor profitable.

Obviously， this was a very good idea. However， it is extremely difficult to implement. Traditional， small-scale， handmade manufacturing is low in efficiency and long in production cycle. It is hard to guarantee the craft， quality and the delivery time

of products. It costs an enormous amount to ensure the smooth process of these procedures.

Dropenling has made great efforts to reach a balance between traditional handcraft production and controllable cost. After almost ten years’ trial operation， it has developed a mature model. First， Dropenling employees locate suitable craftsmen and discuss craft issues with them. Then， they make novel designs by innovation or remodeling. After that， they organize proper training before comparing actual products with sample products. After confirmation， they give official orders at last. This whole process takes at least six months. Since it takes such a long time to do the preliminary work for a mature enterprise like Dropenling， it is obviously very difficult for the traditional Tibetan handicraft industry.

Dropenling has trained these workshops to become mature suppliers who can guarantee the craft， quality and delivery time of their products. Therefore， Dropenling is able to present hundreds of handcrafts in the store. Even so， it is rather reluctant to open branch stores in inland cities because it is hard for handicrafts made in workshops to deal with mass orders.

Dropenling’s suppliers complain， too. Compared with handicrafts made in Nepal and Thailand， the original Tibetan artworks sold in Dropenling are less competitive due to high cost and low efficiency of the production process. However， Nyima Tashi says that it is impossible for their products to go into mass production because it is a characteristic of Dropenling store to sell handmade goods manufactured in small workshops.

Nyima Tashi’s Hope

As the manager of Dropenling， Nyima Tashi has realistic aims and long-term ideas.

In the last two years， the tourist business in Lhasa has become rather depressed. The current mission of Dropenling is to boost sales performance. Over the longterm， Nyima Tashi hopes to make minor procedures for hand-made process more efficient so as to bring down the cost. However， he emphasizes that he will not change these manual procedures into industrial manufacturing. Otherwise， Dropenling would lose its significance.

Nyima Tashi says， “Cultural taste is much more important than price.” In the meantime， Dropenling will further strengthen its product design department， which currently has three staff. They have worked out a special model through learning and long-term experience in their positions. In Nyima Tashi’s opinion， it is necessary to hire some brilliant designers in order to meet international aesthetic standards. He says frankly， “Hiring a foreign designer is too pricy. We can’t afford that. ” Dropenling has already built cooperative relations with some designers and institutions in China. However， a mature product is not only about design， but also about a series of complicated matters including feasibility research， training and quality guarantees. Besides， Dropenling wishes to enhance its brand design.

Making and selling handicrafts is a “technical job”. It is impossible to produce perfect artworks without the help of proper technology. Therefore， talented persons are the priority. Although it is still difficult to find qualified personnel at present， Nyima Tashi believes that eventually there will be more and more suitable specialists as new generations emerge and international visual ideals spread rapidly. A combination of traditional crafts and avant guard vision will give Dropenling a new horizon.

A successful business relies on support. Nyima Tashi has bright hopes for the future of Dropenling. Numerous craftsmen in Tibet have the same hope too.