Young woman in Guangxi injects new vitality into traditional bamboo weaving craft

Liu Xiabing teaches bamboo weaving craft at a classroom in Lingshan county, Qinzhou city, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Photo/Yang Hao)

Liu Xiabing, a young woman from south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, has breathed new life into the traditional craft of bamboo weaving.

At a bamboo weaving factory in Xiamu village, Pingnan town, Qinzhou city, Guangxi, Liu was making a bamboo-woven product under the instructions of her father, a bamboo weaver with 48 years of experience. Liu has cultivated a fondness for bamboo weaving since childhood.

Thirty years ago, thousands of people in Pingnan town made a living by weaving bamboo products. However, there were only 30 practitioners of bamboo weaving remaining in the town in 2016.

Liu's father was ready to throw in the towel, as he thought that the bamboo weaving industry had no future.

After learning her father's plan, Liu, who worked outside her hometown, returned home in the same year, believing that the traditional bamboo weaving craft of her hometown should be passed on.

Despite initial skepticism from her family, she dove headfirst into the business, opening an online store that soon received orders from the rest of China.

"My daughter opened my eyes," her father exclaimed, though he couldn't help but wonder if he'd fallen behind the times.

Liu reassured him that while marketing was important, the quality of their bamboo-woven products was the cornerstone of their success, and he was the one who guaranteed the quality.

In 2019, her father was recognized as a representative inheritor of the Lingshan bamboo weaving craft, which was included on Guangxi's intangible cultural heritage list.

"My original motivation for returning to my hometown is to pass on the bamboo weaving craft," Liu stated in a post on a social media platform.

She then started livestreaming, and though initial attempts to sell bamboo-woven fruit baskets fell flat, a viewer's suggestion to make cat beds turned things around. Liu's bamboo cat beds became an instant success, with 200 orders flooding in within two hours of their debut. Building on that success, she began to sell other bamboo-woven pet products.

The family's factory has created jobs for residents in Xiamu village, and has provided benefits for more than 2,000 households in other places in Pingnan and Yandun towns.

"My monthly salary ranges from 2,000 yuan ($282.67) to 3,000 yuan. During the peak sales season, my salary will be higher," said Liang Haifen, a 54-year-old employee at the factory.

Liu plans to develop more products using the Lingshan bamboo weaving craft through continuous innovation and technical upgrading. In the past eight years, she has developed more than 500 types of new bamboo products.

"Traditional crafts must keep up with the times. We shouldn't just make what we know how to make, but what consumers actually want," Liu said.

In addition to selling bamboo-woven products, Liu has been promoting the bamboo weaving craft through activities including teaching the craft at several schools in Lingshan county.

Lingshan county is promoting the development of special industries with the idea of "one town, one product," organizing training for bamboo weavers to engage in e-commerce live streaming in major bamboo weaving towns. From going it alone to industrial clustering, Lingshan bamboo weaving is ushering in a new era of development. Currently, there are more than 30 bamboo weaving companies in the area around Pingnan and Yandun towns.

"I believe that Lingshan bamboo weaving will never go out of style, and old crafts can bloom anew," says Liu.