Photo shows Ye Xingsheng, a well-known Chinese painter and collector, holding a small Buddha statue he collected. (Photo Source: 51tibettour.com)

Exquisite Thangka (Tibetan art of scroll painting,) delicate Buddha statues, religious instruments full of myths and aged articles for daily use -- all these collections of Ye Xingsheng are the considered the cream of the Tibetan culture.

Ye, a Han man, entered Tibet at the age of 13 together with his parents and learned fine folk arts from Shilo, a painter to the royal court of the 10th Panchen Lama.

The fresco titled "Tashi Delek" (referring to good luck in the Tibetan language) designed and painted by Ye during the 1980-1985 period became the only one of its kind hung in the Tibet Hall of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and has remained unchanged till now. 
 

Photo shows the paintings based on Tibetan folklores by Ye Xingsheng, famous Chinese collector and painter. (Photo Source: China Ethnic News)

"These cultural relics are the children of the Chinese nation. I'm duty-bound to protect them. I see drawing as my own child, so I want to cultivate it," said Ye, now 61, a native of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province.

In 1999, Ye donated on one occasion 2,300 of his collected objects worth 80 million yuan (9.68 million U.S. dollars) to the Tibet Autonomous Regional Government, with 165 being national historical relics.

"An individual alone cannot protect well such precious cultural relics. I feared they would be stolen or dampened," Ye added: "Only when they are donated to the State will they be able to find their real home, even though I feel as if I had been separated from my son for good."

For years, Ye's greatest wish has been the completion of the Tibetan Ethnic Culture Museum, because it will be located in Beijing so that more domestic and foreign visitors will be able to have a closer look at the ancient Tibetan civilization.  

Photo shows the collection of Ye Xingsheng. (Photo Source: CCTV.com)

Over the past several months, he has been bent on making the fresco of the museum's outer wall.

The 30-m-long and 2.5-m-wide white-marble engraving named "Auspicious Pattern of Snowy Plateau" costing one million yuan (0.12 million U.S. dollars,) covers Tibet's 20 major scenic spots and historical sites reflecting Tibet's history of more than 1,000 years and profound plateau civilization,

Before the 60th anniversary of the founding of New China, Ye and other 59 celebrities, such as Yao Ming and Jackie Chan, were chosen as the "Outstanding Figures Moving China Top 60."