Young artist promotes traditional dyeing across country

Zhang (R) and her mother (L) showcase a dyeing work. [Photo/ddcpc website]

Huaxi district in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province, is home to 54 masters of intangible cultural heritage, and has a strong system in place to protect its traditional culture.

Zhang Tingting is a practitioner of the traditional skill of dying clothes with beans in Huaxi district. She currently runs a workshop in Guiyang to make and sell handicrafts made using dyed clothes.

According to Zhang, making a piece of traditional ethnic clothing requires various complicated steps, with the dyeing itself being the most significant. After several rounds of dip-dyeing, the clothes turn blue and are ready for the next step after being washed and dried.

Some dyed products made by Zhang's workshop. [Photo/ddpcp website]

The dyed clothes can be made into costumes and bags with unique ethnic features.

Born in rural Guizhou, Zhang showed interest in traditional skills from a very young age. After she made her first dyed apron when she was six, she started to learn the skill from her mother, which has been done ever since.

Zhang and her mother hope to pass on the skill to more young people, so as to carry forward traditional culture and promote rural vitalization in Guizhou.