Vitality and nostalgia merge in papermaking craftsmanship of villagers in SW China’s Guizhou

Huamao Village is a small village located in Maotai Township in Zunyi, southwest China’s Guizhou Province. It used to be called “Huamaotian,” meaning a desolate and barren place. The village is now full of vitality thanks to the efforts made by the local government and villagers in developing a local cultural and rural tourism industry over the past years.

One of the traditional handicrafts found in the village is a kind of papermaking technique that involves boiling the bark of mulberry trees and other local plants. However, this tradition was on the verge of disappearing in the village. Things started to change in 2015 when Zhang Shengdi, a local entrepreneur who had once left the village in search of work elsewhere, returned to her hometown.

Zhang set up a cultural brand called “Huamao Renjia,” which literally means “Households of Huamao,” and then established a papermaking workshop. All the employees working in Zhang’s workshop are local villagers, including returning migrant workers and college graduates. Moreover, the workshop and the paper souvenirs it produces have also helped the village attract at least half a million tourists every year. Zhang believes that reviving the craft of papermaking has helped the village to stay true to its roots. Her new business plans have created a sense of nostalgia that she had been searching for over a long period of time. 

Photo taken on July 23, 2022, shows the entrance of the courtyard to Huamao Renjia, (“Households of Huamao”), a local enterprise in Zunyi, southwest China’s Guizhou Province. (People’s Daily Online /Peng Yukai)