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West China

Across China: Yak-milk ice cream a sweet business for Tibetan herdsmen

2020-11-02 09:25:06

XINING, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Most Tibetans in Xueshan Township in northwest China's Qinghai Province would make butter and yogurt from yak milk, but now they have another choice -- ice cream.

A factory set up in 2018 has been producing 5,000 bars of the creamy treat every day since last year.

Situated 4,200 meters above sea level under Tibetan holy mountain Anyemaqen, Xueshan Township -- which means "Snow Mountain Township" -- is located in Machen County of Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

In the 1970s, the township was the only one that could not be reached by road among the 10 counties and townships in Machen, but now the ice cream business has become its name card.

"I didn't expect an ice cream factory to be built at my door, and I don't have to go out to work any more," said 28-year-old Tashitso, who used to be poor.

But now she and her husband work in the factory and receive a monthly pay of more than 8,000 yuan (about 1,200 U.S. dollars).

Xueshan County, with a population of 2,029, has two villages and nearly 102,000 hectares of grassland.

"I remember we brought together villagers in cold weather for a meeting to discuss construction of the ice cream factory, but some old people rejected the idea," said Cering Dondrup, a cadre in Yinkehe Village's management committee. Villagers used to make a living by herding and digging caterpillar fungus, an expensive ingredient of traditional Chinese medicine mostly found on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

"There are abundant pastures and more than 20,000 yaks in the village, but no stable industry that can lead villagers to prosperity," said Wangchuk Dorje, an official of Xueshan Township.

After consultation and research, the ice cream company was set up in September 2018. "We collected 800,000 yuan of village development funds and the township government also helped collect 500,000 yuan," said Wangchuk Dorje.

"From technology, equipment to packaging design, everything needed to build the ice cream factory could not have been obtained without aid from Shanghai," he said.

As Shanghai has long been supporting the development of Golog prefecture under a pairing-up policy, it also sent technicians to help build the factory.

During the trial run, the sterilization equipment nearly caught fire when a worker could not operate it properly. It was then that an expert from Shanghai came to the help.

Many workers, who were herders and had never touched a modern machine, can now operate them after being trained.

In 2019, the first batch of 18 bars of ice cream was produced. Wangchuk Dorje invited some old people and children to taste the product. "As we have our own factory in the village and young people have stable jobs, I feel the ice cream tastes sweeter," he said.

"Herdsmen used yak milk to make butter and other diary products, but their added value was not high," said Walchim Dorje, general manager of the ice cream company.

"Now the factory buys about 300 kg of yak milk at a price of eight yuan per kg from people in the township every day, bringing benefits to more than 300 herdsmen," he said.

"Our family feeds over 40 female yaks, and we milk them twice a day. We can earn at least 20,000 yuan every year," said Rigzin Dorje, a 48-year-old villager. He wishes to see the factory in his hometown grow so that more people can taste ice cream made from yak milk.

In 2019, Xueshan Township shook off poverty. The ice cream, priced at 3 yuan per bar, is selling better than ever.

"I hope such 'sweet' industry can also sweeten the life of the herdsmen," said Wangchuk Dorje. Enditem

Editor:Jiang Yiwei