Stitching a better future

In late February, as winter still clung to the mountains of Mabian, an Yi autonomous county in southwestern Sichuan province, Qiaojin Shuangmei carefully packed 15 sets of Yi embroidery for her trip to Beijing.

Unlike previous business trips, she spent weeks deciding what to pack into her luggage.

Coiled skirts with intricate silver stitching. Capes patterned with goat horns and flames. Sashes embroidered with cockscombs and ferns. Each piece is one of a kind, stitched entirely by hand, telling stories of the Yi people.

"I planned to wear a different outfit in the morning and another in the afternoon," she explains. "It's not vanity. I want people to see how beautiful Yi embroidery can be."

This year, she added two special motifs to her collection: the animated film sensation Nezha and the bronze figures from the Sanxingdui Museum in Guanghan city, both stitched by hand in bold black, red and yellow.

Soon after returning from the capital, the deputy to the National People's Congress wasted no time sharing what she learned with other local women, many of whom have used the heritage as a bridge to a better life over the past two decades.

Qiaojin grew up with the Mabian folk legend in which a fairy bird taught a weeping girl with no gown for her wedding to stitch the sun and stars into a dress.

Among the local people, known for their wide-legged trousers and distinctive garments, embroidery is more than just decoration.