She textiles

Clad in traditional costumes, two women of the She ethnic minority from Luoyuan county, one of the areas in China with the highest populations of She people, showed visitors how to fabricate colorful cloth with tools made from timber and bamboo.

She people’s traditional attire is made from homemade ramie cloth, and is embellished with geometrical patterns and laces featuring birds and flowers. The most renowned example of She clothes making is the fenghuang zhuang, or phoenix costume, a beautiful traditional outfit usually worn by She women during important festivals. The phoenix costume was added to China’s national list of intangible cultural heritage in 2008.

However, this handicraft is under threat as few people are planting ramie, the raw material used to make the homespun cloth. Nowadays, only a handful of people wear traditional She attire, and only on special occasions.

The locals are now pinning their hope for a renaissance of the dressmaking art on tourism, according to Zhong Caitong, a male of She ethnic group.

A woman of the She ethnic minority from Luoyuan county weaves cloth at the 10th Cross-Straits Folk Culture Festival in Fuzhou, Fujian province on Feb 9. [Photo/fjsen.com]

A group of She women model traditional phoenix outfits, complete with florid headwear and intricate embroidery, the most famous kind of attire worn by people of the She ethnic minority. [File photo/culture.china.com]