NPC fetes cultures of small ethnic groups

"I am proud my home village has preserved its traditional style," said Tashi Yangjen, the only deputy to the 12th National People's Congress from the Lhoba ethnic group.

Luoba is one of the smallest ethnic minorities in China.

Tashi Yangjen, 36, grew up in a mountainous Lhoba village in Shannan prefecture in southwest China's Tibet autonomous region, though the prefecture was officially reclassified as a city in 2016.

As an NPC deputy, the first suggestion Tashi Yangjen submitted to the NPC session in 2013 was on retaining the traditional design of Lhoba homes, which are usually thatched with straw.

She was worried that the outlook of the village would change as the government revamped and rebuilt village homes, mostly built with stone, wood and straw.

In May 2014, the government approved a plan to preserve the Lhoba village.

Now there are 23 new homes built with reinforced concrete in the village that look almost the same as traditional Lhoba homes. Their roofs are not covered by straw, but metal that resembles straw.

Beyond housing, Tashi Yangjen has also proposed that Lhoba culture be protected, including language and clothing, and that infrastructure be improved.

Things are getting better for Lhoba people. There is a sewage treatment service in her home village, in addition to a garbage disposal facility.

A small factory for making Lhoba costumes is being built. Lhoba dresses usually feature red, black or white stripes. Lhoba women often wear accessories like long necklaces and headwear made of blue beads.

The Lhoba ethnic group has no written language.

"The spoken language of the Lhoba is also protected, as traditional words are collected and Lhoba children are able to learn them from preschool education," Tashi Yangjen said at the ongoing annual NPC session.

Tashi Yangjen's suggestions also include improving the subsidies offered to residents living in border regions.

"The people's congresses are good because deputies' motions and suggestions are responded to," she said, adding the system is sound because it entitles ethnic minorities, however small, to have at least one NPC deputy.

NPC deputies are part-time, and a deputy to the NPC can be the country's president or a farmer, a celebrated tycoon or a migrant worker, a lawyer or an official.

Tashi Yangjen was born into a poor family of wheat and barley farmers, and is currently a township official in the Tibetan city.

Currently about 20,000 students from the region are studying in high schools in inland regions, including Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu. The free education has enabled hardworking Tibetan children to attend school, even if their families are poor.

Tibet has a huge task to relieve 690,000 people out of poverty between 2016 and 2020.

During the five years starting 2011, Tibet lifted more than 600,000 people from poverty, including all the residents in her home village.

"We will protect and develop the fine traditional culture of ethnic minorities and support the growth of ethnic groups with smaller populations," Premier Li Keqiang said at the NPC session on Sunday.

Xinhua