Tanva Tibetan carpet weaving workshop in Lhasa, Tibet

Tanva is the name of Torana's own Tibetan rug weaving workshop. Visitors are welcome both at our weaving workshop site and at our shop in the old town in Lhasa.

You can buy and order carpets, which can be shipped worldwide. We offer free shipping within China. Call Norbu's Lhasa mobile 86-1398 9908681 or call our office and leave a message 86-891-6160001, or contact me (Chris Buckley - see our "Contact Us" page). Tanva is in Nam village, on the road between Lhasa and Gongar airport.

Tanva (Torana) Tibetan Carpet Weaving Workshop: updates January 2009 Natural dye facility completed/ new government-sponsored trainees at the Tanva workshop

view of the Tanva Tibetan rug weaving workshop, Lhasa

Tanva working with the Tibet Artisan Initiative to help revive traditional natural dyeing in Tibet

natural madder dyeing at the Tanva workshop, Tibet

natural madder dye vat at the Tanva carpet weaving workshop, Tibet

Shelagh and Norbu dye a test batch of wool with madder in a copper vat at the Tanva rug weaving workshop

new natural dye storage and training building at Tanva weaving workshop, Tibet

July 2008: New building for natural dye storage and training, for the Tibet Artisan Initiative, Lhasa, managed by the Tanva workshop. This facility will guarantee the supply of bulk natural dye materials to local Tibetan textile artisans, and provide a training location for improving natural dyeing skills.This building was paid for by funds from the TAI, a branch of the Tibet Poverty Alleviation Fund.

Tanva manager Norbu and dyemaster inspect a trial batch of madder dyed wool

Tanva manager Norbu and Tanva dyemaster inspect a trial batch of madder dyed wool

Second trainee carpet weaver initiative underway

a weaver at the Tanva Tibetan carpet weaving workshop in Lhasa, Tibet

June 2008: Government Sponsored Trainees Join the Tanva Workshop: following the success of our trainee program last year, 21 new trainees sponsored by the local government of the Chushu region joined our workshop in June. They will receive training in basic Tibetan carpet weaving and successful weavers will be offered full time positions with Tanva at the end of their training. We warmly welcome them and wish them success.

Winter 2007: Shellduck arriving from Siberia to overwinter on the Kyichu river near our workshop:

The Tanva Team, July 2007:

Tibetan rug weavers at the Tanva / Torana carpet workshop in Lhasa, Tibet

This is how the site looked in July 2007. The new weaving workshop is on the right, partly hidden behind the trees. Compare this with the two panoramas at the bottom of this page (note the results of our tree-planting efforts):

Dyeing wool yarn in our copper vat:

Dyeing wool in a copper vat at the Tanva workshop

Spooling yarn prior to weaving:

spooling wool yarn at the Tanva Carpet Workshop

Rugs being washed:

washing carpets at the Tanva carpet workshop

Pictures of some of our weavers at work on new rug designs, July 2007:

weaving a contemporary Tibetan carpet at the Tanva workshop

balled yarn ready for weaving at the Tanva workshop

Tibetan rug weavers at the Tanva workshop near Lhasa

Weaving one of our first carpets, an abstract design, January 2007:

Tibetan carpet weaving at Tanva near Lhasa

The riverbank by our site in July 2006: a big difference versus the winter views. The prayer flags have been fixed to the willow trees by people from the local village of Nam, for good luck. The river is full at this time of year with snowmelt from the Himalayas:

Kyichu river near the Tanva carpet weaving workshop, Lhasa.

Myself (Chris Buckley), Shelagh Reynolds (my wife) and Norbu (partner and General Manager of Tanva) on the balcony of the former govt offices, April 2006:

Chris Buckley, Shelagh Reynolds and Tenzin Norbu at Tanva workshop, Tibet