Kesang Tashi discusses with a designer the details of a new carpet.[Photo/China Daily] 

When Kesang Tashi talks about his Khawachen Tibetan rugs, his eyes have a certain glow.

"I want to produce the most authentic carpet in the 'Land of Snows'," says Tashi, 69, referring to the English translation for Khawachen.

Coming from a long line of visionary community leaders referred to as "jindhas" or "merchant patrons of society" in the Shangri-la region in Diqing prefecture, Yunnan province, Tashi left his homeland at age 9 to live in India and the US.

But he has always had a strong bond with Tibetan people and the land, which prompted him to set up a workshop producing traditional handmade Tibetan rugs in the 1980s.

"What I have been trying to do in the Tibetan highland for the past 20 years is to chase a beautiful rainbow," he says. "Because attempting to revitalize a collection of beautiful Tibetan art and craft products and making this effort sustainable and enduring, is as illusive as chasing the rainbow."

Tashi recalls his return to Tibet in the 1980s - he saw lots of machine-made carpets of low quality on the market and wondered where all the ancient carpets were.

"As far as I can remember, handmade Tibetan carpets were part of my youth. My home was filled with beautifully handmade Tibetan rugs, some lovingly passed down through generations," Tashi says.

That absence of an important childhood tradition motivated Tashi to take action. Following the example of his father and grandfather, he dove into social entrepreneurship. He sought out master weavers and dyers in Tibet and established a workshop in Lhasa, to train a new generation of apprentices.