Embroidery workshop boosts women farmers’ incomes in southern Xinjiang

Photo shows embroiderers in the workshop in a village in Yangdaman township, Shule county, Kashgar prefecture, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region. (Photo/Chinanews.com)

An embroidery workshop in a village in Yangdaman township, Shule county of Kashgar prefecture in the southern part of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region has helped women farmers boost their incomes by teaching them embroidery skills and offering them jobs.

The workshop was opened by Liu Junxi, head of a company in the prefecture, and has provided jobs for 500 local residents over the past three years since it was launched.

Liu said that the company’s Xinjiang embroidery products, including bags, cushions and cheongsams, sell like hot cakes, and plans to turn the township into the “hometown of Xinjiang embroidery” in the next three years, create jobs for more residents in Kashgar, and help revitalize the prefecture’s rural areas.

Villager Harinisa Abdusamat, who knew nothing about embroidery before, is now a full-time embroiderer in the workshop and earns decent money there.

“I am keen on embroidery and can make embroideries on my own now,” Harinisa said, adding that she has spruced up her home and bought new furniture with the money she has earned from the job.

“I will perfect embroidery techniques to increase my income,” Harinisa said with confidence.

Like Harinisa, Roshenguli Erkin was one of the first employees in the workshop. She has become the highest-paid embroiderer due to her skills.