Home>News Center>Life
         
 

Traditional festival vies for recognition
By Lin Qi (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-08-10 05:44

"I used to cover all buttons with beautiful cloth, and knitted colourful wool into different shapes to put them on my key ring," she added.

The need to operate sewing machines and knit has dwindled in recent years as there is a glut of quality clothing available in shops and on the Internet, which is a change from the time of their mothers and grandmothers for whom knitting was an essential tool in times of shortage.

Some young women have, however, fallen in love with knitting woollen scarves in recent years.

"My roommate at university knitted a white scarf for her boyfriend, and then gradually all the girls in our department joined in," Wang said.

Dong Yijun, 23, an office worker from Shanghai, is another scarf knitter.

"It is simple to knit a scarf. And it feels satisfying to wear a homemade scarf," she said.

A new form of needlework is now making waves the cross-stitch.

Imported from Europe, the cross-stitch is a popular form of counted-thread embroidery, in which X-shaped stitches are used to form a picture.

But this trend didn't sit well with Dong Yijun.

"It causes too much trouble. I don't think I am patient enough," she said.

Lin Yun, a 17-year-old high school student, is a spectator when her classmates spend time after class knitting and stitching.

"Years ago we really enjoyed weaving bracelets. Soon we all got tired of it. Now there are new fashions. But we are too busy with homework. And after all, we girls prefer shopping and listening to pop music," she said.

"Compared to the cross-stitch, I prefer traditional Chinese embroidery. Maybe one day I will take courses on it," Wang Yilin said.

"I hope to make all kinds of embroidery patterns on hebao (a silk pocket used in ancient China). That soft cloth and colourful thread always make me excited."


Page: 1234



Tony Leung to appear in Hollywood film
Carina Lau to be short-lived CEO
Oscar winner Theron to wed
  Today's Top News     Top Life News
 

At least 123 miners trapped by flooding

 

   
 

Central bank to open 2nd HQ in Shanghai

 

   
 

Experts begin picking pandas for Taiwan

 

   
 

Yahoo in talks on stake in China's Alibaba

 

   
 

China to launch lunar probe satellite in 2007

 

   
 

China's Huawei pursues Britain's Marconi

 

   
  Free films keep migrant workers off porn
   
  Couples to join the Chinese Valentine's Day gala
   
  Nothing queer for 'metrosexual' men in pink
   
  Wild orgies leave the Great Wall in mess, and tears
   
  Chinese produce nation's first cloned pig
   
  'Dying in sleep' linked to sleep apnea - study
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
Couples to join the Chinese Valentine's Day gala
  Feature  
  1/3 Chinese youth condone premarital sex  
Advertisement