Crafting prosperity

"Today, many women choose to stay at home to make embroidery products instead of working in the cities," says Song, adding that some women can raise their families as well.

To link intangible cultural heritage with poverty-alleviation projects, the government has established workshops since 2018 where people living in impoverished regions are trained to make products such as pottery, teapots, embroidery, silver items and paper-cuts.

Over 2,000 poverty-relief workshops had been established by October, involving 2,200 intangible cultural heritage projects, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The workshops have trained 180,000 people, provided jobs for 500,000 people and helped to bring 200,000 families out of poverty.

Pan Shixue from Maliao village in Leishan county of Guizhou province opened a workshop in 2018 after attending a training class on making silver products with skills handed down by the Miao ethnic group.

Maliao is an old village known for its silver products. The process of making the items involves multiple steps, including casting, carving and washing silver. It was listed as a national-level intangible cultural heritage in 2006.

But due to the lack of transportation and poor conditions of the village, most young people had abandoned the handicraft and went to work in cities.

With rural revitalization carried out in recent years, many young people have started to return to villages. Pan is one of them. His workshop provides jobs to families who once lived in poverty.

"The outcome is beyond my expectation. Within two years, I have reached the goal that I had set to reach in five years," says Pan.