A Day in Life Part I

A Day in Life

Photo by Wang Yuanling

Source: Popular Photography

Lhasa, 「the last Sukhavati」 in earthliness, is said to be a good place for a trance. In this holy city, however, nine young people who start their own businesses live a day never in a trance: A series of life episodes show a miniature of such young entrepreneurs whose daily experiences contrast their distinct 「a day in life」 with this much-loved city for a trance.

It is both a virtual and real day made out of numerous details which depict the most quotidian perspective in this majestic city.

In Lhasa, nine young people who start their own businesses live 「a day in life」: A series of life episodes show a miniature of such young entrepreneurs.

Originally this title aimed to tell stories about young people in this 「last Sukhavati」 in earthliness dedicating themselves on creating businesses through photos. Yet, since populations here show a high rate of immigration, young Tibetan people preparing to start their own businesses are rare. And most of them, after graduation, decide to attend the civil service examinations.

Jamphel Dolma

With a former name of Chedrup Dolma, she graduated from Yunnan Minzu University majoring in Tourism Management. This Shangri-La young lady, after graduation, found a job in a public institution — the authority of Yunnan Ganden Sumtseling Monastery. Yet before long she went to Beijing and worked in a company doing high-end customized tourism. It was two years later when she was promoted to a position in middle management that she told her family that she had already worked in Beijing for two years.

This job in Beijing increased her interest in her ethnic culture. Before long, she resigned and went back to Lhasa, starting her own business in developing boutique souvenirs. Again, she kept this secret from her family. After her company was in a stable state and she earned a decent amount of earnings, she reviewed the secret to her family.

At eight in the morning, Jamphel Dolma performed kowtow along the road of circumambulation around the Jokhang Temple.

Various reasons led to this situation. First of all, Tibetan people emphasize family life and advocate a slow-paced lifestyle. Family members feel reluctant to let their children start their own businesses because it would lead to a fast-paced and busy lifestyle, which is contrary to their habitual life. As a result, most of the limited number of Tibetan young people who start their own businesses in Lhasa come from other Tibetan areas. Secondly, starting businesses, unlike the past barter or exchange of local specialties, requires people to explore emerging markets and find out growth points. Young Tibetan people, though enjoying an advantage in local culture, lack experience in expanding and operating markets in inland. Most of the creative ideas are held back by the immature environment for starting businesses and lack of overall support for action. Thirdly, an increasing demand for civil servants in the Tibet Autonomous Region led by the improvement of ethnic policies and requirements for stability in this border area attracts many newly graduates. Compared with the inland civil servants, this better-paid and more stable job serves as a good choice for them. Last but not least, starting businesses, no matter in which area, brings along with it competition and the survival of the fittest. Contrasting with the comprehensive industrial incubators and supporting policies in inland, Tibet lacks a set of feasible mechanisms or policies to guarantee a safe and smooth entry into the markets. Therefore, it limits the emerging business types and environment, blowing the courage of many young people who want to start their own businesses.

Dolma was approaching the gate of the Jokhang Temple. She spent nearly two hours finishing this road of 1,113 meters because she walked three steps and performed one kowtow. At this time, bathed in sunshine, more people were circumambulating on the road.

After coming to Lhasa, Jamphel Dolma located her studio next to the Jokhang Temple. For a long time, she was busy running her company and contacting clients. As a Buddhist, she has a long-cherished wish to pray for her family living in Yunnan Province. So she often performs kowtow around the Jokhang Temple for blessing.

At 4:00 p.m., Jamphel Dolma was delivering goods herself after inspecting all the business spots in hotels. In Lhasa, she worked all by herself. She managed to do so because her business had just started and most orders were made online. Her products, enjoying a good reputation though, were not once ordered in batches. Yet sometimes some urgent orders required her to carry the goods and deliver herself.

At 7:00 p.m., Dolma was preparing a simple dinner at home. The Lhakpa Nyirang Courtyard she lives was once the resort palace of the Fifth Dalai Lama. It is an old house whose watercourse goes in the middle of the yard. And the toilet is communally used. Even so, she likes here because the location, inside Barkhor Street and near the Jokhang Temple, is favorable for her business. Besides, this is the attracting point for her about Lhasa.

At 8:00 p.m. after dinner, she would circumambulate three times around the Jokhang Temple if she has nothing special to do even though she has performed kowtow in the morning. As a Buddhist who lives near the Jokhang Temple, she circumambulates as an everyday task, and it also helps her keep exercising after meals.

However, no matter how immature the situation may be, there are people who dedicate themselves to adventures in starting businesses. The nine targets in 「A Day in Life」 differ in their backgrounds — some used to be civil servants and some once went to big inland companies after graduation — yet they all come to Lhasa and start their particular businesses, and rise to the top of the fields respectively. It is easy to see their commonness as well. First, they have all received higher education. No matter they are students from universities for nationalities or returned students from New York University, they have all mentioned the influence from other cultures on their businesses. Second, they all, based on their reflection on Tibetan culture, combine the inland experience and Lhasa markets to locate their status in the markets. Quite a few of them are doing traditional businesses, but none of them are satisfied in only maintaining the current status. Instead, with their reflection and experience, they try to create a new mode suitable for the current conditions, which demonstrates their potentials. Third, Lhasa is the most important place for Tibetan people. Though compared with inland, Lhasa still lacks a mature condition for businesses, it harbors numerous business opportunities for these young entrepreneurs, and they all start their businesses here without prior consultation.

The nine young entrepreneurs show their sparkling yet characteristic shining points. They review their immatureness to us without any deceit, which further attracts us by their truest sides. Each one of them focuses on their own businesses. They know each other because of entrepreneurship but reserve a moderate distance in their relationship.

Bhuchung, a Thangka curator, got to know Dolma by chance in his office because the latter found interest in his title.

Jamphel Dolma lives above Bhuchung and often pays him a visit on her way home. Dolma is the one who behaves most like a business person. Coming to Lhasa alone, she is determined to succeed. She is really a miss independent: She handles everything herself with maturity and experience, and is good at communicating; in addition, her short hair also adds to the image. Normal Tibetan girls would have been a mother of two at her age. However, she is too busy to 「get to know a boyfriend.」

Bhuchung was introducing the Thangka works to visiting scholars. These painters had no idea of what a 「Thangka curator」 was. For easy understanding, he joked that Thangka curator was someone helping to sell Thangka.

Dhon Tse, preparing to start his business in yogurt, shows a maturity imbalanced with his age: He always expresses his ideas only after profound understanding and deliberation, which also makes him a good listener to other people』s suggestions.

Dhon Tse

Dhon Tse, born in Maqu County, Gansu Province, graduated from Northwest University for Nationalities with Master of Arts in Tibetan Language and Literature. This 30-year-old man was assigned to work in the local radio authority after graduation. However, he decided to go to Lhasa to start his own business without even entering the gate of the authority.

Thanks to his family convention in tailoring, he created his own brand of Tibetan-style clothes after coming to Lhasa.

Within a few years, in the Greater Tibet, ten branches joined in. After the business became stable, he suddenly had the intent to do yogurt business because he believed the yogurt made from yak milk in his hometown enjoyed a better quality than that in Lhasa. He hoped that his hometown natural flavor could be served on tables in Lhasa.Therefore, he started his business again.

At 1:00 p.m., Dhon Tse was selecting storage trucks with his assistants in a suburban vehicle market.

At 4:00 p.m., Dhon Tse made up his mind to buy a small truck able to refrigerate after comparison, a further step toward his yogurt business.

At night, he selected decorations with Tibetan features in Barkhor Street, hoping to add to the uniqueness of his shop.

Dechen, an alumni in Dhon Tse』s university, was born in Nyêmo County, the source of Tibetan incense processed by water mills. His family was once the largest landlord and producer of Tibetan incense. Now he plans to establish an open-end experience center for Tibetan incense, this mysterious traditional art. He hopes to publicize his formula, processing and procedure. Besides, he offers opportunities for experiencing the whole procedures: both an innovation and a challenge.

Dechen Geshi

Born in Nyêmo County, Tibet, he graduated from Northwest University for Nationalities majoring in Tibetan Language and Literature.

The most famous Tibetan incense is the one processed by water mills in Nyêmo County. Once the largest producer of this incense, Dechen』s family provided him with the atmosphere in understanding its culture, which was an impetus for him to start the incense business. However, he supposed that Lhasa was now overwhelmed with Tibetan incense shops. Thus he came up with an innovative yet challenging idea: establishing an experience center and publicizing its formula for normal people to experience making incense by themselves. Then, he came back to his hometown and searched out all the tools for making Tibetan incense. All these things he did was for a better understanding and experience of Nyêmo incense for visitors.

At 11:00 a.m., Dechen had collected a large batch of used things in the old house in Nyêmo — a small county 200 kilometers away from Lhasa. He was making an inventory of them. All these things were tools to make incense. Used and battered though they might look, they were precious in Dechen』s perspective.

Dechen Geshi collected many useful things at home as well as numerous memory episodes. Suddenly, he sat down and began peeling the bark off the cypress. Once peeled, the cypress trunks, major sources of Nyêmo incense, can be grinded into bits by water mills. After adding multiple kinds of spice, Tibetan incense is finished. While working, Dechen Geshi forgot all the hardship and anxiety in entrepreneurship. With a child-like smile, he said that since childhood he had made incense like this which offered him such happiness that could not be purchased by money. Therefore, he wishes to share this happiness with more people by establishing such an experience center.

At 7:00 p.m., Dechen was too exhausted to squeeze a smile. The constantly delayed opening made him rather anxious.

Dechen Yudron, a new graduate in Educational Policy in New York University, came back to China and established an educational consultant company for Tibetan female education and culture cultivation. Her story was rarely known in Tibet except a rumor that a Tibetan girl from Peking University — she achieved her Bachelor degree in Peking University majoring in International Politics — was inviting local girls to attend her activities for free. In order to save venue rents, Yudron hoped to hold her activity in Dechen』s experience center which had not yet fully finished. Though Dechen never knew Yudron before, he lent her for free out of kindness. Even so, Dechen had no idea of the so-called 「metacognition」 activity held for Tibetan girls a long period later.