“Intense interest in antiques is the big momentum to push me here，” Pema Tsering said.[Photo/China Tibet Online]

“Intense interest in antiques is the big momentum to push me here. I could not hold on for such a long time just for money,” said Pema Tsering, a young Tibetan curiosity-dealer.

In 2001, his high school time, parents sent him to Beijing Military Region, where he was drafted as a firefighter for 2 years. Albeit short, his military years tempered his willpower, which would be beneficial for his entire lifetime.

Retired from the army in 2004, Pema Tsering successfully landed a job as security guard in Beijing.

“The salary was not bad and the job was very easy. In my parents’ eyes, I should stay there, but that was not in my nature. I preferred freestyle life instead,” said Pema Tsering, who quitted his job three months later.

He chose to set up a stall, selling accessories with Tibetan flavor, which are more exquisite and attractive than common handcrafts, whether on material or workmanship.

“In a good month, I could earn 3,000 yuan, which was barely enough to keep body and soul together due to the high living cost in Beijing,” he said.

Even so, his appetite for the job remained as healthy as ever because he was doing what he had been loving from childhood. “I got up at 3:30am in summer and 5:30am in winter, at the latest,” he said.

After three years of hard work, he saved some money and rented a booth in an antique market in Beijing, selling old crafts.

Having had a basic knowledge of Tibetan antiques，Pema Tsering found that the business was not as easy as he expected. Once he made a mistake on identifying the antiques, he would suffer enormous loss.

At the end of 2007, he travelled all the way to Nepal to buy a few antiques, on which he expected to make a fortune. However, the economic crisis, which swept the globe since the early 2008, cost him nearly 100,000 yuan.

In 2009, he bought a string of Tibetan beads at 40,000 yuan. “I firmly believed that it was worth tens of thousands,” said Pema Tsering, who was struck a heavy blow by the fact that it was worth only about 500 yuan after identification.

Get ready to start from scratch at any time – this is probably the real portrait of his career in selling antiques.

Different from others, he is a self-motivated diligent worker. For instance, he learned much about the Dzi bead by self-education. He saw more in a Dzi bead than merely its age and price. In his eyes, the bead was glistening with rich culture and history. Much of his success in business could be credited to this sincerity.

Pema Tsering moved his antique shop to Lhasa in 2010, for 3 reasons—less living cost, more convenient purchase and a broader market, and most importantly, Lhasa being the holy land for every Tibetan.

Nowadays, more precious antiques become accessible there and the volume of his business enlarges gradually, while leisure days increased. “I could enjoy the days without worrying about getting up late,” he said.

From 36,000 yuan to 1 million yuan, his annual income grows by leaps and bounds. His story shares with us 2 things: first, it is important to stick to your dream; second, hold on, and you will make your dream come true.