Livestreamer showcases beauty of Tibet

LHASA－Unlike her peers in the city who use trendy cafes, restaurants and shopping malls for their video shoots, Tibetan internet celebrity Losang Drolma likes to set her scenes in orchards, woods and plantations.

Born in Gyatsa county, Lhokha in the Tibet autonomous region, the 24-year-old works for a local e-commerce center, which provides services such as express delivery, marketing and guidance on online shopping.

Her latest short video on Douyin, also known as TikTok, was shot in an orchard in the lead-up to the upcoming blueberry festival in her county. In front of the camera, she picked fresh blueberries with local villagers, and invited the audience to try them.

"I have been sharing my short videos on several platforms, and currently have over 1,700 followers on Douyin," said Losang Drolma. "I'm so excited that the number is still growing daily."

In 2018, after graduating from university, Losang Drolma participated in a free training session sponsored by the local government, which secured her a position at Gyatsa's e-commerce center.

After two years of office work, she finally got an opportunity to get in front of the cameras.

In June, she was asked to do a livestreaming session on internet platform Taobao Live to promote local specialties. The session lasted for around two hours and achieved a sales record of over 600,000 yuan ($86,485).

Losang Drolma's first spot in the limelight soon made her popular with local netizens, some of whom recognized her on the street and asked for a picture with her.

Since then, Losang Drolma has become a regular livestreamer and helped local villagers promote their goods like blueberries, walnuts and traditional herbs.

She frequently visits different villages to check if there are new products she can promote.

"It seems to be an easy job to talk to the audience and sell things in front of the camera, but actually it takes a lot of effort to make it better," Losang Drolma said.

To attract more followers, she learns from other popular livestreamers by analyzing their videos.

Tibet has seen rapid growth in its logistics industry in recent years, and online shopping, which used to be difficult due to geographic and transportation obstacles, has become popular in the region.

To form an e-commerce service network and help locals get jobs or start up their own businesses, the autonomous region had set up hundreds of service centers in villages, towns and counties by April.

Last year, e-commerce transactions in Gyatsa, exceeded 25 million yuan, an increase of around 96 percent year-on-year.

More than 4,000 farmers, herders and college graduates received e-commerce training, according to statistics released by the county's e-commerce center.

Thanks to the improved logistics network, Losang Drolma bought a new smartphone online from Shenzhen, a city over 3,500 km away in Guangdong province, and received it within five days. "With its higher number of pixels and more functions, I'm now better prepared for the upcoming livestream session in October," she said.

Riding the wave of livestreaming sales and the ever-improving e-commerce system in Tibet, more and more young people in the region are realizing their dreams of becoming social media stars.

"Helping more people via e-commerce gives me a great sense of self-fulfillment," Losang Drolma said. "I hope more people can see the beauty of Tibet through my livestreaming shows."