XINING－Along the G316 Highway in Tongren, a county-level city in Northwest China's Qinghai province, dozens of thangka art academies dot a section of road several kilometers in length. Nearby villages boast painters of the 1,000-year-old art.

"Everyone in my family except me is a thangka painter," said 33-year-old Kanzhoiji from Wutunxiazhuang village in Tongren.

Thangka are Tibetan Buddhist scroll paintings on cotton or silk using with mineral and organic pigments derived from coral, agate, sapphire, pearl, gold and other minerals, which ensures that the color lasts for centuries.

The paintings date back to the 10th century and typically depict Tibetan Buddhist deities.

Tongren, or Regong in the Tibetan language, is famous for its local thangka, one of the Regong arts that were inscribed on the UNESCO intangible heritage cultural list in 2009.

Fifteen years ago, fewer than 5,000 people were engaged in Regong thangka-related businesses, according to local statistics. Now, nearly 10,000 people, or one-ninth of Tongren's population, work in the sector.

Thangka, once a form of religious painting, has become a popular choice for home decoration and even art collections.

"Some thangka paintings with traditional Chinese elements are very popular among our customers," said Gesang Gyaco, a local salesperson, adding that one horse-themed piece has become a hit among customers in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The painting features a white horse head surrounded by orange clouds against a blue lake background and Tibetan cultural motifs. It costs 1,900 yuan ($298), and Gesang Gyaco sold 600 of them last year.

Tongren has seen an increase in thangka sales and practitioners as a result of the various local academies and industrial parks centered on the art that have sprung up in recent years.

Lanka, founder of a Regong ethnic cultural center, said that over the past five years, it has trained over 800 students, and their work has been sold to buyers in many European countries.

"Thangka paintings are very popular in France. We have cooperated with an art center in Aulnay to exhibit our paintings regularly," said Lanka, adding that one of the pieces was sold for more than 3 million yuan.

The high value of thangkas has enticed local farmers and herders to take up brushes, said Qiao Delin, director of a committee for preserving Regong arts in the Huangnan Tibetan autonomous prefecture, which administers Tongren.

In the past three years, the prefecture has built 76 centers for teaching thangka making, Qiao added.

Zhu Maoji, 25, from the Gannan Tibetan autonomous prefecture in neighboring Gansu province, has been studying in one of the centers for over five years.

"It takes patience and determination to paint thangka," Zhu said, adding that she has been working on a painting with three fellow students for more than a year.

Radan Gyanco, a 26-year-old teacher at the center, started to learn when he was 11. Since 2013, he has taught over 100 students.

"I want more people to know about the art," he said.