Young Tibetan woman pursues her dream in limelight

LHASA — Unlike her metropolitan peers who frequent exquisite cafes, restaurants and shopping malls for video shoots, Tibetan internet celebrity Losang Drolma likes to set her scenes in rural orchards, woods and plantations.

Born in Gyatsa county, Lhokha city in the Tibet autonomous region, the 24-year-old now works for a local e-commerce center, which provides services such as express delivery, online shopping guidance and marketing.

Her latest short video on Douyin platform, was shot in a blueberry orchard leading up to the upcoming blueberry festival in her county. In front of the camera, she picked fresh blueberries with local villagers and invited the audience to come and have a taste.

“I have been sharing my short videos on several platforms, and currently there are over 1,700 followers on Douyin,” said Losang Drolma. “I’m so excited that the number is still growing daily.

After graduating from university in 2018, Losang Drolma participated in a free e-commerce training session sponsored by the local government, which secured her a position at Gyatsa county’s e-commerce center.

After two years of office work, she finally got an opportunity to come out from behind the scenes.

In June, she was asked to do a livestreaming session on internet platform Taobao Live to promote local specialties. The session lasted for about two hours and brought in over 600,000 yuan ($86,500), a sales record.

Losang Drolma’s first foray into the limelight soon gained her popularity among local netizens, some of whom even recognized her on the street and asked for a picture with her.

Since then, Losang Drolma has become a regular livestreamer, helping local villagers promote goods such as blueberries, walnuts and traditional herbs. She frequently visits different villages to check if there are new products she can push.

“It seems to be an easy job to talk to the audience and sell things in front of the camera, but actually it takes a lot of effort to make it better,” she said.

To attract more followers, she keeps learning from other popular livestreamers by analyzing their videos.

Tibet has seen rapid growth in its logistics industry in recent years, and online shopping, which used to be difficult due to geographic and transportation factors, has become popular in the region.

To form an e-commerce service network and help locals get jobs or start up their own businesses, the autonomous region had set up hundreds of e-commerce service centers in villages, towns and counties in its agricultural and pastoral areas by April.

Last year, the total amount of e-commerce transactions in Gyatsa exceeded 25 million yuan, almost double the previous year. More than 4,000 farmers, herders and college graduates received e-commerce training, according to statistics released by the county’s ecommerce center.

Thanks to an improved logistics network, Losang Drolma bought a new smartphone online from Shenzhen, a city over 3,500 kilometers away from her hometown, and received it within only five days.

“With its higher pixels and more functions, I’m now better prepared for the upcoming livestreaming session in October,” she said.

Riding on the wave of livestreaming sales and the ever-improving system of e-commerce in Tibet, more and more young people in the region are realizing their dreams of becoming livestreaming video stars.

“Helping more people via e-commerce gives me a great sense of selffulfillment,” Losang Drolma said. “I hope more people can see the beauty of Tibet through my livestreaming shows.”