For nearly 1,000 years, monks and folk artists created Regong art, which includes thangka, mural painting, patchwork crafting and sculpting.

Regong art was made part of UNESCO's list of the intangible cultural heritage in 2009.

Tsering Tso, deputy director of Qinghai's provincial preservation center for intangible cultural heritage, says Qinghai's cultural diversity comes from its ethnic mix. The province is inhabited by such ethnic groups as Han, the Tibetan, Hui, Mongolian, Tu and Sala people.

She says the blending of different religions and cultures, including Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Islam, has created a rich heritage like the Regong art.

Around 30,000 people made a living from Regong art in 2015, and the value of their output was 537 million yuan ($83 million), she says.

Nyangbon says top artists earn tens of thousands of yuan annually.

But this was not always the case.