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 | kontakt@hanwag.de | www.hanwag.de

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