Tangka painting has a long history in Tibet. It first appeared in Tibet about 13 hundred years ago. Today, young people in their 20's and 30's carry on the ancient art. Xialu Wangdui is one of those who is dedicated to keep the legacy alive.

In a corner of the famous Bakor Street in Lhasa, there is a Tangka shop. The owner Xialu Wangdui is working on his Tangka piece of the Goddess of Mercy with a thousand hands. The painter started to learn the skill in a monastery when he was 12. The picture with his teacher recalls his memories of learning.

Tangka painter Xialu Wangdui said, "The first step is to learn how to paint the head portrait of Sakyamuni. My teacher has many students. Not as long as other apprentices spent, I completed the first step just in one month. My teacher praised my painting. He thinks highly of me."

Time flies. After ten years of learning with his teacher, Wangdui graduated. Now he has his own store of Tangka.

Wangdui insists on the traditional way to paint Tangka. First, the cotton canvas should be fixed on a rectangle wood frame. Then, the basic color brushed on the canvas has to be burnished by a stone.

And then drawing the outline of the Buddha with a pencil. The key point is the composition. It's said that all these proportions depend on the records of Buddhist scripts. A short and thin bamboo stick is a good helper.

Wangdui said, "The size of this Buddha's face is marked on the stick. The width and length are the same. When I learnt how to paint Tangka, the most important was to remember these numbers. Only after this step, an apprentice can touch the pigments."

Coloring is the last step. The most difficult part of coloring is the eyes of the Bubbha. It needs experienced painters like Wangdui to complete. As the tradition goes, all the coloring materials are made from minerals.

Wangdui said, "These are all mineral pigments. It's very heavy. This is the original color of stones. It all weights differently. This one is very heavy. The color won't change as time pass by."

Which also won't change is the loyal hearts of the Tangka painters from generation to generation. Wangdui, the former apprentice has been a teacher with more than 20 students in a school in Lhasa.

Every year since 2001, the Tibet University has recruited at least one student in the major of Tangka's Master Degree. In 2004, it took in its first batch of students in the major of Tangka of Bachelor Degree.

Whether on campus or in stores, the legacy has been kept alive as young and old believers paint their Gods on Tangka visually and mentally.