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Editor's note: China is marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Tibet autonomous region. In the coming weeks, China Daily will bring you in-depth reports about developments in the region in the past half-century, focusing on culture and religion, environmental protection and eco-tourism.

At first sight, the Tibet Academy of Thangka Painting, located between the bustling Tomzigkhang and Barkhor shopping malls in the center of Lhasa, appears as an oasis of calm.

But its tranquil air, behind a closed gate, is deceptive because every day more than 30 Tibetan thangka painters study under the guidance of six masters in the traditional-style building that serves as an exchange center for different styles.

Inside one of the rooms, a tall man was guiding a student as he corrected the lines on a painting. The cup of butter tea, resting on his office table, had long since gone cold.

The teacher was Mandrong Norbu Sithar, from Xigaze, the second-largest city in the Tibet autonomous region, who is the founder and head of the academy, a nonprofit cultural organization.

"When visitors first come to our academy, they tend to think we are on vacation because the gate is shut," Norbu Sithar said, adding that the gate is always closed because the students need peace and quiet as they get to grips with their art.

Norbu Sithar, a thangka master from Lhaze county in Xigaze, is one of four national intangible culture inheritors of thangka art in the region. He has been painting for more than 30 years.

He said painting is a family tradition and he became interested when he was a young boy, so he was apprenticed to his grandfather at the age of 12.

With his grandfather, Dawa Dondrub, he had the opportunity to visit the Tashilhungpo Monastery, one of the most important centers of Tibetan Buddhism, founded by the first Dalai Lama almost 600 years ago.

After working with his grandfather, Norbu became apprenticed to Kachen Losang Phuntsok, the thangka painter of the 10th Panchen Lama (1938-89), and then studied under Master Kachen Adon for four years.

In addition to his teaching duties, Norbu has participated in fresco renovations in a number of monasteries, including the Potala Palace in Lhasa.

On one occasion, when the palace renovation team was encountering problems with a particular fresco, Norbu was drafted in as one of the few experts who had read about the fresco in the books of the Jowoje Atisha, the great Indian master who founded the Kadampa School in Tibet.

The academy was founded in 2011 on the grounds of a former family-run thangka school, and is now a center for exchanges and discussions. It attracts students from far and wide.

Norbu has trained more than 200 thangka painters during the past 19 years.

"He is a master of thangka. He insists on the importance of preserving tradition and is not interested in just pleasing tourists or making quick profits," said Gonbo Dorje, one of Norbu's former students, who works in the traditional Tibetan medicine sector.

"His academy provides free tuition for students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds."

The academy only accepts students who can read Tibetan because they are required to read a treatise on thangka painting in the original language.

With an increasing number of young people becoming interested in thangka painting, Norbu believes the future is promising. "Learning, teaching, having meals and conversations with my students every day gives me great pleasure," he said.

Contact the writers at palden_nyima@chinadaily.com.cn