PRESERVATION AND PROSPERITY
Tsamjo, a former farm worker, is from Tsethang in Tibet Autonomous Region in southwest China. The town is known for a traditional art that goes back for centuries, serge weaving. Soft, durable and static free, the Tsethang serge, a kind of cashmere unique to the area, is considered to be the finest of all Tibetan fabrics. It dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and was used to make the robes of the nobles because of its ornate patterns and elaborate weaving that takes 18 procedures.
Tsamjo came to be associated with the art, once nearly forsaken for its complexity, after she had an accident during farming a decade ago that left her disabled. At the age of 39, she faced two options: She could sit at home on the government subsidies she was entitled to
