NPC deputy devoted to reviving Yao culture, transforming folk traditions into source of income

Zhao Chunmei, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, is particularly focused on how ethnic culture can thrive through rural revitalization.

Photo shows Zhao Chunmei, Party secretary of Erfeng village, Huilongshan Yao Township, Zixing city, central China's Hunan Province. She is also a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature. (Photo/Huang Lei)

Born in the 1980s, Zhao is a member of the Yao ethnic group and the Party secretary of Erfeng village, Huilongshan Yao Township, Zixing city, central China's Hunan Province. She believes that the culture of the Yao people is the bedrock of Yao identity and the community's foundation for the future.

During the summer vacation of 2025, Zhao and her fellow villagers decided to welcome local youth who were studying elsewhere back home to learn the traditional culture of the Yao ethnic group, including folk songs and the long drum dance.

Zhao recalled that more than 50 students participated in the seven-day training.

To create wealth for the village, Zhao has led residents of Erfeng village in hosting long-table banquets, the highest-level ceremonial feast of the Yao people. By transforming folk traditions into experiences and consumable products, they have attracted a steady flow of orders.

Tourists enjoy a long-table banquet in Erfeng village, Huilongshan Yao Township, Zixing city, central China's Hunan Province. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

In recent years, Zhao has invited inheritors of Yao embroidery to the village, helping train the village's first group of local embroiderers.

In 2026, Zhao plans to integrate Yao embroidery workshops, long-table banquets, and study tour programs to create more local employment opportunities for women in the village, enabling them to earn income without leaving home.