Tenzin's stall has moved into the Barkhor shopping mall along with 3000 other vendors, marking an end to life on the street exposed to the sun and rain. [Photo/China Tibet Online]

In Tibet, the traditional Tibetan clothing brand "777" enjoys the same popularity as some of the world's most famous brands, such as LI-NING and Nike.

Paldron, a salesperson who has been working in the 777 Tibetan Clothing Store for 10 years, said that every Tibetan New Year people will come to the store to purchase new Tibetan costumes to wear for the celebrations. The young people tend to prefer new styles, and the older customers prefer traditional ones. Every year, the 777 Clothing Store must make innovative decisions in the selection and design of cloth based on older traditional styles.

The 47-year-old Palbar Tsering recalled his childhood and said: "When I was a kid, my parents were workers in the community and had a negligible income. Despite this, every New Year my parents would buy me new clothes. Therefore, I cherished the new clothes so much that I would fold them up and put them under my pillow every night before going to bed."

As a citizen of Lhasa, Palbar Tsering knows a lot about the great changes that have taken place for Tibet's economic society, and the happier life of people in Lhasa. He said: "Now Tibetans buy new clothes at ordinary times instead. So wearing new clothes in the Tibetan New Year is not so exciting."

Tenzin has been selling rubber overshoes on the street near Ramoche Monastery in Lhasa since the early 1990s. He said: "Buying a pair of rubber overshoes was good enough for the Tibetan people at that time." However, things have changed as the years wore on, and there is no longer a market for rubber overshoes.

Tenzin said: "According to the different seasons, we sell different kinds of shoes now. The fashionable leather shoes, sneakers and board shoes are much more popular with young people."

Nowadays, Tenzin's stall has moved into the Barkhor shopping mall along with 3000 other vendors, marking an end to life on the street exposed to the sun and rain.

As clothes and shoes are the necessities of daily life, Tenzin said: "We can see great changes in the lives of Tibetan people from their clothes."