KUNMING — In a small village in Yunnan province, a crystal-clear stream has been more than just a source of water for generations — it has been the lifeblood of an ancient paper-making tradition.

When she played in the stream as a child, local artisan Ai Ye liked to watch her village elders soak and wash the mulberry bark that would later be transformed into delicate sheets of handmade paper.

"We mimicked the adults when we played in the water," she said. "It was like a game. But gradually, I fell in love with the craft."

Unlike many of her peers who left the village to seek work in cities, Ai chose to stay and carry on the tradition. "Paper-making calms my mind," she said.

Mangtuan, a multi-ethnic village predominantly inhabited by the Dai people and located in the Gengma Dai and Va autonomous county, is renowned for its handmade paper. Of the 179 households in the village, over 60 are engaged in paper-making year round, with more than 100 participating during the off-season after the harvest.

Paper is one of the four great inventions of ancient China. When Ai was 13, she first learned about Cai Lun, the inventor of the paper-making process during the Eastern Han (25-220) dynasty. When Ai read a description of Cai's paper-making in her history textbook, she was immediately reminded of how the elderly people in her village would craft handmade paper.

After graduating from junior high school, Ai took up the mantle of older generations and returned to the village to practice paper-making, which she has continued for nearly 20 years.

The paper produced in the village is known as mulberry bark paper, made from bark taken from mulberry trees. From mid-April to September each year, villagers climb nearby mountains to cut the trees and strip their bark, carrying it back to dry and store, preparing what is needed for the next year's paper-making.