A 5-day international folk craft and cultural products expo, opened in Guiyang, Guizhou province on Sept 24, with the theme of inheritance, protection and opening-up, featured local folk boutiques and cultural legacy combined with talks and investment signing events.

Craftsman working with silver [Photo/gywb.cn]

The exhibition started back in 2006 and has grown in influence, gradually attracting attention internationally while promoting and protection local folk culture, which has flourished as a result and allowed craftsman and households to show their talent.

Since 2009, nearly 16,000 craftsmen have taken part and the province's folk craft products have brought in 50 billion yuan ($7.82 billion) while the industry has created nearly thousands of jobs.

Guizhou is home to 49 ethnic groups which have their own original culture, but parts of it are poverty stricken, so, the State has come up with policies to help develop its economy and protect the ecology and environment, as part of its western development plan, to increase communications with the outside world.

Miao women showing their embroidery techniques [Photo/ gywb.cn]

In commenting on the event, Yang Jing, deputy director of the provincial economic and information technology commission, remarked, "The folk crafts and cultural products expo is not just an event, it's also a site for craft promotion and innovation," then went on to say that they are building culture zones and providing training to support the industry.

Thanks to these efforts, by the end of the province's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), the industry is expected to have a total output value of 100 billion yuan ($16.65 billion) and employ more than 1 million people.

One of the beneficiaries of this is Zhang Jun who uses his sculpture skills acquired in a furniture factory to make life-like sculptures and comments, "When I started my business at home using all my savings it was not an impulsive decision, but my knowledge of the market prospects." Zhang then went on to praise the support and attention the provincial government has given folk crafts and culture.

At the same time, the International Folk Art Organization has set up an international folk art research institute in conjunction with Guizhou University to explore and protect Guizhou folk arts and cultivate practitioners.

One of Zhang's peers, Wu Zhihui, who uses silver brushing skills that she learned from her elders and is passionate about her craft, opened a store in 2013 in the town of Kaili and sells her work to big cities. She says she expects the expo to attracted foreign crafts people with new design and marketing concepts that she and her peers could benefit from.

And she's ready for it, after all, "I've spent seven years perfecting the craft."