Embroidering a future for tradition

As an inheritor of the Miao batik skill, Cai has won multiple awards for her batik and embroidery works. She also founded a Miao batik and embroidery company that gathers the female embroiderers in her village to produce handmade goods with intricate designs. The products sell well, both domestically and internationally.

"When I first started the business in 2009, only my husband and I were working, and then we gradually expanded to 20 people, then to 60 people, and now we have more than 600 staff members. In 2020, our output value reached over 22 million yuan ($3.15 million)," Cai says.

Cai left her village in 2000 at the age of 20 after her sister told her that she found a job for Cai in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province. However, when she got there, she found that the job was collecting garbage at landfills. She later moved to Shenzhen, Guangdong province, to work as a waitress.

In 2007, she decided to move back to her hometown to better take care of her young daughter and she took part in a local competition in Bijie, with her batik work. She won second place with prize money of 2,000 yuan.

The competition inspired her. She realized that batik can be adapted to various products, especially souvenirs for tourists, so, in 2009, she decided to open a company that made such items.

"Growing up in a Miao village, we wear our ethnic clothes from childhood, and we use batik and embroidery to decorate our clothes and articles for daily use," she says.