New products safeguard traditional Yi embroidery

Traditional Yi embroidery is taking new forms in Yuxi, Yunnan province, where artisans are turning inherited patterns into fridge magnets, hairbands and other products to keep the craft in use and attract new customers.

The city's safeguarding efforts cover 840 representative intangible cultural heritage items, including traditions of the Yi, Dai and Hani ethnic groups. It has developed 55 heritage workshops, eight of which have provincial recognition, according to local cultural authorities.

One practitioner is Yang Xia, 33, a seventh-generation Yi embroiderer in Eshan Yi autonomous county. After several years working away from home, she returned to learn from her mother, then gained experience at an embroidery company before opening her own studio.

"As a Yi woman, I felt I should carry our embroidery tradition forward," she said.

Yang designs products and coordinates orders with 30 to 40 women who regularly embroider for her. Most work at home, allowing them to earn extra income while caring for children. Payment varies with the patterns, stitching techniques and skill required.

Yang also participates in embroidery activities at Eshan county's Lianjiang community, where the women's federation provides space for women to exchange techniques and children to try the craft. Han and Hui residents join the activities alongside Yi participants, allowing knowledge once passed mainly within families to reach a wider community.

She promotes her work through Douyin and WeChat as well as selling through her shop. Members of a network organized by the local women's federation help her film short videos to introduce the craft and its products.

Such support is part of a broader push to sustain embroidery as a livelihood. A municipal plan issued in January calls for documenting traditional patterns, supporting workshops and developing skilled practitioners. It also seeks to develop brands and create more places for visitors to learn about embroidery and buy its products.

To protect the knowledge behind the products, an Eshan research report recommends recording the origins and symbolism of traditional motifs, alongside stitching methods, and building a database of practitioners. It also calls for designs that combine local patterns with contemporary tastes and practical uses.

In Eshan, reduced or waived shop rents have helped attract more than 10 embroidery businesses to a cultural heritage hub in the county seat. Established in February 2025, the hub combines artisan studios, product displays and visitor activities.

The county is also linking workshops with village production and home-based embroidery. Annual training programs reach more than 1,000 women, while new products such as embroidered fridge magnets and hairbands give traditional patterns uses beyond clothing, according to county authorities.

Eshan's Yi embroidery industry generated more than 5 million yuan in sales in 2025 and helped more than 10,000 people increase their incomes, county figures show.

A county research report also found that handmade embroidery is time-consuming and costly, and that many businesses rely heavily on local customers. It recommended stronger design, production and marketing capabilities to help expand demand.

Zhang Feifei, director of Eshan's intangible cultural heritage center, said the county aims to build heritage brands through new products, wider sales online and at tourist attractions, and festivals that draw broader audiences. A priority is stronger training and market support for women embroiderers to improve their earnings.

Zhang also called for a support network extending from the county level to village groups, with dedicated allowances and reward funds for heritage practitioners. Greater recognition and financial security would help artisans sustain their work and attract more people to learn and pass on traditional skills.

Across Yuxi, preservation also extends to public participation. The city's heritage center regularly organizes hands-on activities in paper-cutting and embroidery. Tourist attractions offer performances and workshops featuring traditions such as Huaning pottery, Yi dances and Guansuo opera. Qinghua Street's heritage craft market provides another outlet for local artisans to display and sell their work.