Actors from a folk art troupe give performance during the 11th Mt. Qomolang Cultural Tourism Festival held in Shigatse Prefecture of Tibet,Aug. 26, 2013. [Photo/China Tibet Online]

The county-level folk art troupes in Tibet have reached 76 by far, which have greatly promoted the cultural development in the region's rural areas over the past few years.

The folk art troupes have increased with a rapid speed over the past ten years. In 2004, Tibet first approved the establishment of 18 county-level art troupes, and officially put them into its grassroots public cultural system.

After few years' expansion, the number of Tibet's folk art troupes had increased to 51 by the end of 2012. At present, the folk art troupes cover 90 percent of the region's counties, which will cover all counties by 2015.

For a long time, the folk art troupes have brought various cultural performances in rural areas of Tibet, greatly enriching the cultural life of local farmers and herdsmen.

In spite of far distance and inconvenient traffic, the folk art troupes have strengthened the cultural exchanges between the counties over these years, said Tenzin, director of the Folk Art Institute in Tibet.

Actors from a folk art troupe give performance during the 11th Mt. Qomolang Cultural Tourism Festival held in Shigatse Prefecture of Tibet,Aug. 26, 2013. [Photo/China Tibet Online] 

In recent years, the folk art troupes have developed with increasing troupe number and better preferential policies.

Each art troupes receives a subsidy from regional government, which has increased from 50,000 yuan (823 US dollars) to 200,000 yuan (32,940 US dollars) over the past four years.

And their cast members have had better performance level and professional ability after attending various trainings. The folk artists have collected, recompose the folk arts and even made innovations to keep the essence of arts without losing their art forms.

The recomposed folk arts have been very popular among rural Tibetan residents during various performances.

The folk art troupes have become a main strength in promoting the inheritance and development of Tibetan culture, said Mimar, head of Nyangrain Folk Art Troup in Lhasa.

The Nyangrain Folk Art Troup has made the eight major Tibetan operas complete after nine years' efforts and gives performances regularly now, said Mimar.

The folk art troupes have participated in various regional and national performances with their excellent art works, making great contribution to the prosperity of Tibetan culture.

According to statistics, the 51 folk art troupes of Tibet had created over 300 performances in 2012. The folk artists had given 1,600 scenes of performances with over 900,000 audiences.