With a focus on developing high-end round silk fans, Shi adds sequins, crochet and other popular decorative techniques to them, and combines a variety of embroidery methods such as Chinese embroidery, French embroidery and feather embroidery, which gives the fans a three-dimensional effect.

Several women have become hits on the Internet because of their unique and exquisite handiwork. The ingenious craftswomen turned their interests into careers and have become masters in their field. They are willing to take the time and effort to do one thing extraordinarily well, which shows a brand new image of young Chinese craftswomen to the world.

Shi Jiaran, a graduate in fashion design, became interested in making round silk fans by accident. Taking her heritage and innovation into consideration, she incorporates new embroidery and metalwork into the traditional craft, bringing stunning artworks combining classical and modern aesthetic elements to the public.

Shi hoped to pass on the craft through offering fan-making lessons online and her offline workshop.

Du Meng, a young Chinese craftswoman, has made various glass crafts to express different meanings and feelings, such as a bird perched on a branch, a pair of white dancing shoes full of memories of young people and a lost girl crouching down.

Du focused on glass art when she moved to the United States in 2010 after graduating from the China Central Academy of Fine Arts. Since then, she has been looking for a way forward on that artistic path.

Glasswork is the most difficult craft to get started in and requires its craftspeople to be accustomed to using tools because the raw material must be processed at high temperature, which makes it easier for beginners to beat a retreat.

Du injects stories drawn from her life into her handicrafts to form emotional links between her works and their viewers.

Yan Hong, who makes fengguan, or phoenix coronets, advocates changing waste materials into things of value. In August 2019, after 13 days of designing, polishing and filigreeing along with two days of assembling, Yan turned out a peerless phoenix coronet made from 18 old cans, which became an unexpected success and made her popular online.

As a graduate in nursing, Yan worked as a nurse for two years. With a deep love for ancient headwear, she turned her hobby into a sideline and then into a profession. She makes full use of simple materials such as copper and aluminum wires and wool, and changes them into amazing headpieces.

In December 2019, Yan was invited to give a lecture at Oxford University in the UK, where she got to know many other excellent creators.

"Making a dollhouse is a kind of pursuit of handicraft art, and making tiny objects is conducive to tempering our emotion. While creating a mini-world, my inner self will also slowly calm down," she said.

Souji, a woman keen on animation, comic, game and novel (ACGN) culture, has published her own comics and took part in a cosplay show of her favorite anime work. She is also fond of playing with dolls and making exclusive huts for them.

She gradually found that she enjoyed creating special and tangible living space for her dolls, especially after making a miniature house by hand that took three years to complete. Souji then transitioned into a full-time dollhouse maker and now specializes in creating highly reductive miniaturized objects.

In 2018, Souji recreated the miniature room of Sophie, the female leading role of Howl's Moving Castle, a classic Japanese animated film directed by Miyazaki Hayao that followed the movie set. 

(Women of China)