"I wish I had a pair of skates," said Wan Hao, an 8-year-old child living in Dingwang Village in Qinglong County, Qianxinan Bouyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, in Southwest China's Guizhou Province. And the wish has come true with the help of Wang Chenghao, a child from Ninghai County, Ningbo City, East China's Zhejiang Province.

Wan's skates were on a wish list that the Ninghai Women's Federation collected from children in the village in Qinglong.

Ninghai Women's Federation has taken multiple measures to help people shake off poverty in Qinglong, the county that Ninghai is paired with for poverty relief work.

Promoting Traditional Art via Livestreaming

Aware that women in Qinglong are good at embroidery, the Ninghai Women's Federation organized experienced craftswomen from the Ninghai Qiaoniang Workshop (established by the federation) to give lessons on embroidery, embossing, weaving, arts and crafts to local women, enabling them to empower themselves to create wealth.

In addition to teaching skills, the craftswomen help local women in Qinglong expand their online sales channels. The products made by women in Ninghai County and Dingwang Village integrate contemporary aesthetics and practicality with Bouyei characteristics, and have become popular among consumers.

The earnings from a one-hour livestreaming show amazed the villagers, with more than 300 handicrafts sold and the sales totaling 31,764 yuan (US $4,736).

"The cost is low, it's not difficult to learn and the variety of the products is multiple. To me, it's a good job to engage in on the doorstep. I believe these small cultural products can attract more tourists to spend their money," said Pan Xiaoyan, a member of the Ninghai Qiaoniang Workshop.

Art Beautifies Village and Helps it Prosper

Environmental improvement led to the success of Gejia Village in Ninghai County. This, in turn, inspired the Ninghai Women's Federation to promote the "Beautiful Courtyards" project in the county, which is aimed at beautifying the rural living environment.

Located in northern Ninghai, Gejia Village became a pilot site for Cong Zhiqiang, an associate art professor at Renmin University of China in Beijing, who needed a place to put his theory of sending art to the countryside into practice.

His new idea to beautify the countryside highlighted the role of villagers in designing their own artistic decorations for their courtyards. Starting in 2019, houses were brightened up with colors and decorations and the village got a face-lift. It became famous on the Internet and was listed as one of the country's major villages for rural tourism.

Encouraged by the rise of Gejia Village, the Ninghai Women's Federation played a role in helping cultivate courtyard artists and boosting local culture.

Qin Lei, a master of Chinese flower arrangement in Ninghai and also a member of the Ninghai Qiaoniang Workshop, worked as a tutor to help villagers in Dingwang create "Beautiful Courtyards."

Guided by Qin, villagers worked together to transplant and prune the original plants and transform their idle articles or cast-offs into decorations or ornaments. The project is expected to create courtyards with different characteristics and themes such as painting courtyards, hands-on courtyards and botanical courtyards, which can all help boost both the local economy and culture.

Nourishing the Next Generation with Art

Chen Shuyin, who is good at crafting with clay, gave more than 50 students in Dingwang an interesting clay craft lesson, where they were fascinated by the colorful clay in its variety of shapes, and felt the charm of hands-on art for the first time. They also presented their works to the people visiting and helping the village.

"The aunts and uncles have been in our village for more than half a month, and our yards have become beautiful and my mother has earned money by selling her embroidery. I will learn the skills well. When I grow up, I will make our village more beautiful and richer with my hands," said Sangsang, a participating child in Dingwang Village.

The craft lesson was part of efforts to popularize art education in the countryside. Last year, the women's federations of Ninghai and Qinglong signed a cooperation agreement on family education, and the two sides now cooperate in areas like online family education courses, exchange of tutors and online schools for parents.

Ninghai Women's Federation has designed three children's art initiation courses, allowing the seeds of art to take root and grow in rural children's hearts.

(Source: China Women's News/Translated and edited by Women of China)