from tibet to bavaria - hanwag yak project
DESCRIPTION
HANWAG – the Bavarian bootmakers – are about more than just traditional, German high quality craftsmanship. The experts in handcrafted footwear now also make sought-after hiking and trekking boots from annually limited amount of yak leather, imported from the Lhasa Leather Factory in Tibet.TRANSCRIPT
From TibeT To bavariamounTain booTs made From The FinesT yak leaTher
WE’RE DELIGHTED YOU’RE INTERESTED IN OUR YAK LEATHER BOOTS – OR YOU HAVE ALREADY DECIDED TO OWN A PAIR.
IN THIS BROCHURE WE WOULD LIKE TO TELL YOU WHERE OUR YAK LEATHER COMES FROM AND WHY WE ARE NOT JUST RELYING ON LOCALLY SOURCED LEATHER.
Fits like a glove – a yak herder with his brand new
Hanwag Lhasa boots
Employees clean and tan the 1.5 centimetre hides for approximately three weeks, before they are stretched out to dry.
What are conditions actually
like in the factory? This is what I
wanted to find out when I arrived
in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.
This is where our yak leather
supplier, the Lhasa Leather
Factory, is based. I spent a little
more than a week in Lhasa,
finding out more about the factory,
its manufacturing techniques
and environmental principles.
At both management level and
on the shop floor, I was met
with openness and enthusiasm.
I was also invited as a guest
into employees’ own homes.
Hospitality plays an important
rÔle in the Tibetan culture – but
more of that later. To begin with,
I would like to explain more
about the yaks.
FROM BAVARIA TO TIBET
HANWAG – the Bavarian bootmakers – are about more than just traditional,
German high-quality craftsmanship. The experts in handcrafted footwear
now also make sought-after hiking and trekking boots from anually
limited amount of yak leather, imported from the Lhasa Leather Factory
in Tibet. The Tibetan leather manufacturer and Hanwag have concluded
an exclusive agreement. In particular, Hanwag is interested in acting in a
socially and environmentally sustainable manner and not just sourcing the
best materials. As part of the agreement Hanwag insisted that production
is accordance with strict European environmental standards – the Lhasa
Leather Factory not only meets these standards but exceeds them.
This is good to know, but Hanwag wanted further assurances. It was
decided that Peter Wilson, a Hanwag employee from Vierkirchen, should
travel from Bavaria to Tibet to report back.
The respect afforded these animals is clear
for all to see. In the centre of Lhasa, near
Potala Palace, is a statue of two enormous
golden yaks surrounded by flowers. The
monument receives a steady stream of
visitors and is protected by armed guards
day and night. Visiting pilgrims, tourists and
locals all hold it in enormous esteem. This is
not surprising given that the yak has a very
special status in the Autonomous Region.
Golden yaks: Tourists, pilgrims and locals honour the so-called ‘grunting oxen’.
YAKS – TREASURE OF THE PLATEAU
Yaks are honoured in Tibet for good
reason. It is only thanks to the yaks that
people can survive up here on the arid
Tibetan Plateau over 4,000 meters above
sea level. From high lamas (priests) to
humble monks, from rich land owners
to the poorest of servants (Tibet was
a feudal state until 1959) – everybody
relied on the yaks. They were a vital
source of food, fuel for heating, cloth-
ing and footwear, and were also beasts
of burden. And to this present time
nothing has changed. No wonder then
that the inscription on the golden yak
monument in Lhasa reads “treasure of
the plateau”.
Yaks are well equipped to survive in
harsh conditions. They feel perfectly at
home at altitudes of up to 5,400 meters
and in temperatures down to -35°C.
Their long, shaggy hair hides a dense
felt-like woolly undercoat. Like felt, it also
provides excellent insulation. The yaks’
dense undercoat is also enhanced by a
special sticky substance in their sweat
which helps keep their underhair mat-
ted and also provides extra insulation.
Yaks are well adapted to high altitudes
and thin air. They have larger lungs and
hearts and a greater capacity for trans-
porting oxygen through their blood than
cattle found at lower altitudes.
Why are they called the grunting
ox? Because they do. Yaks, unlike cattle,
do not make the characteristic bovine
lowing (mooing) sound, instead they
grunt. Hence their Latin name bos grun-
niens (bos = ox, grunniens = grunting).
The English word “yak” only refers only
to the male of the species. The female
is called a “nak” or “dri”. I only found
this out later on. The Tibetans are so
overwhelmingly polite that no one ever
laughed when I thanked them for the
yak milk in my tea!
A date with the yaksYaks don’t live on farms, but roam
freely with nomadic herdsmen.
Nyima Tashi, the deputy managing
director of the Lhasa Leather Fac-
tory, drove me to the regions north of
Lhasa to find them. When I ask Nyima
where they might be, he looks out
over the vast, empty landscape and
answers, “They don’t stay in any one
place. We’ll set out and see.”
It could of been boring but the
driving and searching through the
empty land was fantastic. After head-
ing north through the hills for five
hours in the company 4x4, we reach
Namtso, a mountain lake that is sa-
cred to the Tibetans.
YAKS: TREASURE OF THE PLATEAU
Tibetan yaks are tough creatures that can survive
in extreme conditions at over 4,000 meters
above sea level.
The whole family is responsible for looking after the yaks.
This includes the children too.
The lake might be sacred, but it is
also a good source of income from
pilgrims and tourists as witnessed by
the booming business of catering to
the numerous visitors.Yaks are also
to be found at Lake Namtso. How-
ever, instead of herdsmen they are
accompanied by officially-registered
yak ride operators. Their animals had
coats the colour of dirty snow and
would carry tourists for a few yuan
(local small change).
As we continue on our search,
Nyima explains that the Lhasa Leath-
er Factory purchases its yak hides
from three different markets held in
December some 50 to 100 kilometres
from Lhasa. “We generally buy around
four thousand hides. But in a good
year we might buy up to six thousand.
Most hides are used to make leather
goods. The finest examples – normally
about one hundred hides – are set
aside, specially prepared and then
sold as decorative items to tourists,
companies or hotels.”
We find our yak herds further inland,
strewn across a dark-green hillside,
not far from the brown tents of the
nomads. Clouds of smoke rise up from
their stoves into the stormy skies. The
nomads live in yurts, traditional wood-
frame structures covered by wool felt.
Next to almost every yurt stands
a decorated motor bike. In a country
with such limited public transport
and long distances, these bikes are
indispensable. Some of the yurts are
even equipped with solar panels on
the roof. We are warmly welcomed
into a dimly-lit yurt that is pleasantly
heated by a yak dung fire. Our hosts
serve us cups of steaming, hot but-
tery tea with ‘yak milk’ and dried yak
meat. I just happen to have brought
the perfect present for our host with
me – a brand new pair of Hanwag
Lhasa boots made of yak leather. I had
brought them from Germany with me
especially as a present for someone,
someplace. Out host promptly tries
them on and they fit like a glove, as if
he had ordered them himself.
Left page: Yaks are to be found everywhere in daily life. They are frequently depicted on jewellery and in paintings and there are even yak rides for tourists. Yak is also used to make many different dishes – from fresh steaks to dried snacks.
Free to roam.The nomadic herdsmen
follow their yaks across Tibet.
YAKS: TREASURE OF THE PLATEAU
The Lhasa Leather Factory is the only yak
leather manufacturer in Tibet – and it’s
run solely by Tibetans. Around 80 people
work in the factory and 30 in laboratories or
administration. The company’s commitment
to its employees is reflected in the fact that
every one of them is guaranteed a job for
life. And anyone who is unable to continue
in their original department, for whatever
reason, is found a different position, whether
as a driver, assisting in the kitchens or selling
in the company shops in Lhasa. Most of the
employees live in subsidised company flats
built on the factory grounds.
Taking fresh hides to the tannery.
HOW YAK LEATHER IS MADE
In addition to producing yak leather,
the Lhasa Leather Factory runs three
shops in the capital. I saw for myself
that their customers are mainly
Tibetan. Tibetan people prefer shoes
made of yak leather even though
they are more expensive.
The factory started producing
commercial products from yak
leather in 1960. Today their
collection includes some 90
products, from smooth, hard-
wearing leather doctors’ bags to
colourful, decorated boots for folk
groups (there are lots of them in
Tibet). Every day the factory makes
15 pairs of these boots and 120 pairs
of other footwear.
Due to its commercial success,
in 1989, the Lhasa Leather Factory
was granted major investment for
a key technical reform project by
the Planning Commission of Tibet
Autonomous Region. In the same
year, the German Chancellor Helmut
Kohl selected the factory as an aid
and regeneration project during
his visit to China. Now we have
come full cycle. Today the Lhasa
Leather Factory supplies Germany
with highest quality leather that
complies with strict European
environmental standards.
Before German involvement, the
factory’s waste water used to run
untreated into the river. This caused
many problems. Today, the waste
is filtered out using purification
methods and subsequently dried
out to be used as fertilizer.
HOW YAK LEATHER IS MADE
Some 90 per cent of the factory’s
revenue comes from footwear and
the factory originally had eight per
cent of the total Tibetan market.
However, due to the company’s on-
going success and new investment,
its market share increased to 36 per
cent in 1995.
From hide to leatherEvery year in December, ten
employees go to the yak markets
to select the best hides. As soon as
they arrive in the factory, these are
carefully stored underground for
four months until the spring. Tibet
is extremely cold in winter, so the
factory is closed during the winter
months due to the large amounts of
water the tanning process requires.
In spring, the approx. 1.5
centimetre thick hides undergo a
cleaning and tanning process that
lasts around three weeks. First, they
are thoroughly washed to remove
the hair (I saw large piles of yak hair
during my visit, which I was told is
sold to fill sofas with… nothing is
wasted). Any remaining flesh is then
scraped off, before the hides are
trimmed and thinned to a standard
thickness and then bleached in
huge wooden tanning drums. The
hides turn a blue – white colour.
Next the soaking wet hides are
stretched out and nailed to wooden
frames to dry for days in a large
hall. The factory also has a modern
drying facility where the skins
would dry more quickly. However,
Niyama tells me that slower drying
creates better quality leather. These
are the hides that Hanwag buys to
make its sought-after yak leather
shoes.
The best hides are hand-picked. A small team of
experts are responsible for the selection.
The elaborate cleaning and tanning process takes about three weeks. The yak hides are then stretched out to dry on special wooden frames.
Jong Dra is 42 years old and has been
working at the Lhasa Leather Factory for
26 years. His mother worked there before
him and government policy meant that her
children were also offered jobs in the factory.
Jong Dra first worked in the kitchens for seven
years. Then he was invited to work in the tan-
nery. Here he learnt all about about leather
production. Today Jong Dra is a master tanner.
His colleagues all agree that he is the most
hardworking employee in the whole factory.
Jong Dra welcomes us into his home. Behind him is a panoramic photo of his native Lhasa.
VISIT TO AN EMPLOYEE AT HOME
Jong Dra is also a member of the fac-
tory’s specialist team of buyers who
visit the yak markets in December to
select the highest quality hides for
next year’s production.
He invites me into his subsided
company flat. He’s lived there for six
years. At first employees are granted
a basic company flat, but after twenty
years of service they are offered a
better one.
Outside in the garden he has a
solar-powered kettle, which brings
water slowly to the boil. It’s simple,
but effective. Two parabolic reflec-
tors focus and concentrate the sun’s
energy on a kettle. On a clear, sunny
day it takes around fifteen minutes to
boil a litre of water.
As we sit in Jong Dra’s comfortable
and lovingly furnished living room,
there is a huge impressive panoramic
photo of Lhasa which completly fills
the wall behind him. “I’m very proud
of my city,” he explains. We sit and
drink cups of yak butter tea (that
tastes much better than it sounds)
while Jong Dra shows me his family
albums. I also notice the framed
picture of the Dalai Lama which has
VISIT TO AN EMPLOYEE AT HOME
pride of place on the television.
Life in TibetJong Dra tells me about himself and
of the people and life in the Tibet
Autonomous Region. During my stay
in Lhasa, the week-long ‘Sho Dun’
Yoghurt Festival is held. It is a
traditional festival where the
monks leave the monasteries after
a period of fasting and are given
yoghurt to eat by the people. Jong
describes the festival, “We went to
Drepung Monastery (approximately
10 kilometres west of Lhasa) to see
the ‘sunning’ of the Buddha.” This is
part of the celebrations where a huge
image of the Buddha is unfurled over
the hillside – 100 lamas are needed
to carry it. People come from far
and wide to see the spectacle. Some
20,000 lamas, pilgrims, Tibetans and
tourists join in the celebrations.
Apart from that, his life outside the
factory is pretty normal Jong tells me.
After work, he usually takes the bus
to his brother’s tea house, which is
not far from the factory. He also plays
basketball – it’s been a popular sport
in Tibet since the seventies.
Modern energy generation –
employees heat their kettles
with parabolic reflectors.
Jong Dra’s Lhasa Leather Factory
employee ID card.
Jong Dra hard at work.
The master tanner pulls
the heavy leather hides
from a drum.
The Lhasa Leather Factory seal– only the � nest quality is worthy of this mark
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Hanwag GmbH | Wiesenfeldstraße 7 | D-85256 Vierkirchen | +49 (0) 81 39/93 56 0 | [email protected] | www.hanwag.de
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