Intangible assets added to Tibetan preservation list

Authorities of the Tibet autonomous region have added 10 more intangible assets of Lhasa onto its preservation list, the Lhasa Municipal Cultural Bureau said on June 4.

These newly added items cover Tibetan traditional music, dances, arts, and folk customs.

Among the new entries are traditional music, including ashi, which are songs that Tibetans sing while working, and art works such as block-print thangka, religious art pieces in which artists use paper or cloth as outlined renderings.

Also on the list are handmade Tibetan boots, and local masks made of cloth.

The bureau said Lhasa so far has 76 cultural heritage items.

Twenty of the items are categorized as State-level heritage items, 31 items are regional level, and another 25 are city level.

Wang Delong, spokesman of the bureau, said Lhasa authorities have been sticking to the principle of protecting and saving the cultural heritage, and using the principle more to pass down assets to future generations.