Inheritor revitalizes Miao embroidery in SW China's Guizhou

At a workshop inside the Miao-Dong Ethnic Culture Park in Kaili, southwest China's Guizhou Province, embroiderers were busy creating Miao embroidery pieces.

"Our orders are booked out through July. Life just keeps getting better for everyone here," said Pan Xiaohui, an inheritor of Miao embroidery.

Pan's connection to the craft runs deep. "I grew up in a village with my grandmother. She taught me stitch by stitch," she said.

When Pan was in middle school, her mother returned home to start a business, and the family home became a hub where embroiderers dropped off and picked up embroidery pieces. Pan gradually came to feel that preserving and promoting Miao embroidery was her calling.

Pan Xiaohui (right) and her mother iron embroidery pieces. (People's Daily/Chen Junyi)

After graduating from university in 2022, she returned to Kaili to support the local Miao embroidery industry, joining her mother's company.

Pan quickly set about tackling the operational problems that had held the business back: production delays, errors in custom garment cutting and inconsistent quality. She resolved these issues one by one, and as standards rose, so did workers' earnings.

Gradually, Pan turned her attention to brand building. "We'd been running on an original equipment manufacturer model for years. That's no way to grow. We had to invest in our own brand," she said.

On the production side, she insisted on keeping the work handmade, refusing to sacrifice quality for speed. On the marketing side, she encouraged embroiderers to use social media to showcase their skills and share the stories behind the patterns, helping broaden public appreciation for the tradition.

The company has since established itself as one of Guizhou's best-known Miao embroidery enterprises, with 29 patents and registered designs covering 62 original works, and a brand profile that has grown steadily year on year.

The company's workforce has grown to match. From over 800 embroiderers in 2013, it now employs more than 6,300. Pan has also led the team in developing a range of Miao embroidery products designed for contemporary life, pieces that are as practical as they are beautiful.

The company's sales exceeded 13 million yuan ($1.88 million) in 2025. This year, Pan has set an even higher target: over 20 million yuan in sales.