Bustling New Year market in southwest China’s Tibet
As the Chinese New Year and Tibetan New Year is approaching, the holiday shopping in Nyingchi, southwest China’s Tibet is busier than ever. People have started to prepare for their annual celebrations, generating plenty of sales for Tibetan clothes, boots, and hats.
Lhamo, a clerk at a Tibetan Clothing Shop on Jialong Street is busy organizing the new fabrics at her store. She said: “Tibetan clothes have been a hot seller since a month before the New Year. We have all the new fabrics out for customers to pick from.”
Another Tibetan clothing store on Hong Kong Street is also very popular. Customers were selecting from many different types of new clothes, and parents were choosing new clothes for their kids too.
Tibetan clothes have a long history and are continually evolving and developing into more diverse forms. People used to wear Tibetan clothes made from pulu, a kind of woolen fabric, which didn’t have many styles and was difficult to launder. Today, Tibetan artisans have made changes to traditional Tibetan clothes and the styles are endless. Compared to traditional styles, the new styles are more popular with people.