Silk balls preserve love tradition from past

NANNING - Saying "I love you" is one way to show affection. But for centuries women in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region have preferred a more subtle gesture: giving hand-embroidered balls of silk.

Guangxi residents, mainly ethnic minorities, grow up with traditions involving crafts and folk songs, and their colorful silk love balls have long been a symbol of local culture. They appear in all manner of Chinese cultural events.

Jiuzhoujie is a small border town in Guangxi, and is the center of the silk ball tradition. Almost every home is involved in crafting the balls of love, and the town makes more than 300,000 of the romantic trinkets every year.