Sewing Workshops Cultivate Women's Talents in Yunnan

Women at an embroidery training session in Yuanyang County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, on June 17 [Women of China/Zhang Jiamin]

Women from seven ethnic groups took part in an embroidery training session in Yuanyang County, in Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, on June 17.

The training is part of the local government initiative to promote the development of traditional local folk handicrafts.

From March to June this year, the county has organized a series of activities including an embroidery handicraft contest, awards, training and exhibitions, which have been undertaken by the local women's federation and ethnic and religious affairs authority.

The activities attracted 126 group and individual participants, who turned in a total of 99 pieces of works, of which the majority, including 18 award-winning works were later exhibited. They demonstrated seven different ethnic styles in the form of clothes, hats, handkerchiefs, bags and curtains, providing a tantalizing glimpse into the local culture and lifestyle.

Gao Rong, a woman from the Dai minority who participated in the training, said she has learned the embroidery techniques since she was young and wished to improve her skills by the training so that she could have the opportunity to engage in the production of embroidery works in future.

Shi Qionghua, another woman from the Yi ethnic group, said that making embroidery works has helped improve her family's economic conditions. She demonstrated a piece of work that takes three to four days to finish, saying that she could earn 600 yuan (U.S. $97) from the piece.

Taking the contest and the training as an opportunity, the local government wishes to explore an effective mechanism for women to participate in the embroidery handicraft industry and establish embroidery cooperatives with women playing a major part.

Women at an embroidery training session in Yuanyang County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, on June 17 [Women of China/Zhang Jiamin]

Women at an embroidery training session in Yuanyang County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, on June 17 [Women of China/Zhang Jiamin]

Women at an embroidery training session in Yuanyang County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, on June 17 [Women of China/Zhang Jiamin]

Women at an embroidery training session in Yuanyang County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, on June 17 [Women of China/Zhang Jiamin]

Exhibition of a piece of embroidery work [Women of China/Zhang Jiamin]

(Women of China)