Delicate thangka paintings in NW China's Qinghai

A visitor takes photos of a thangka painting at the Renjun Painting Academy in Tongren, Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Oct. 16, 2024. (Photo: China News Service/Xue Di)

In monasteries and villages along the Longwu River basin in northwest China’s Qinghai Province, Buddhist monks and folk artists of the Tibetan and Tu ethnic groups carry on the plastic arts of painting thangka and murals, crafting patchwork barbola and sculpting known collectively as the Regong arts. Thangka painting is the most representative of them.

Characterized by a distinctively Tibetan Buddhist religious style and unique regional features, the Regong arts embody the spiritual history and traditional culture of the region and remain an integral part of the artistic life of people there today.

Photo taken on Oct. 16, 2024, shows thangka paintings at the Renjun Painting Academy in Tongren, Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. (Photo: China News Service/Xue Di)

Photo taken on Oct. 16, 2024, shows thangka paintings at the Renjun Painting Academy in Tongren, Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. (Photo: China News Service/Xue Di)

Photo taken on Oct. 16, 2024, shows thangka paintings at the Renjun Painting Academy in Tongren, Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. (Photo: China News Service/Xue Di)

An artist creates a Thangka painting at the Renjun Painting Academy in Tongren, Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Oct. 16, 2024. (Photo: China News Service/Xue Di)

An artist creates a Thangka painting at the Renjun Painting Academy in Tongren, Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Oct. 16, 2024. (Photo: China News Service/Xue Di)

An artist creates a Thangka painting at the Renjun Painting Academy in Tongren, Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Oct. 16, 2024. (Photo: China News Service/Xue Di)

A visitor enjoys a thangka painting at the Renjun Painting Academy in Tongren, Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Oct. 16, 2024. (Photo: China News Service/Xue Di)