Coppersmith Dawa Dakpa works in a studio in Maisu district, Dege County, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province. Known among Tibetans for advanced craftsmanship in knitting, pottery, and sculptures made from clay and wood, Maisu today still keeps the ancient techniques alive. But many crafts face challenging times due to a lack of funds, limited production capability, slow progress in resource integration, and the family based inheritance tradition that hands down skills to new generations. The local government has invited aging craftsmen to share their skills with the disabled or jobless to help spread the techniques and alleviate poverty. Learning copper working from his father since his early years, Dawa Dakpa now runs a factory with 16 workers and has an annual income of 500,000 yuan ($75,300). (Photo: China News Service/Liu Zhongjun)
