Kazakh soap-makers reviving eco-friendly tradition

Mother-of-eight Ahmantai Erjanhan has been making black soap, a natural product made from plants and animal oil, for almost 50 years, but it was only in June - at age 70 - she decided to use her traditional skills to start a business.

Erjanhan, who is from the Kazakh ethnic group, runs a soap-making workshop in Qinghe county, in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and employs 12 villagers.

To start the business, she received support from experts at Green Xinjiang, an ecological conservation and sustainable development NGO based in Urumqi, the regional capital.