TONGREN, China -- Bent over a stretched canvas that will become a Tibetan thangka (traditional scroll painting), Jia Yang Dan Ba uses a fine brush to etch an intricate web of gold threads over the tunic of White Tara, a Buddhist deity who sits at the center of the scroll. Around her, a painstakingly penciled outline of a group of minor gods is waiting to be brought to life by Dan Ba's brush.
