Go Deep in Lijiang: Incredible bamboo weaver in Zhuyuan village

Zhuyuan Village,Shigu town, Yulong county in Yunnan province. (Photo by Ma Dengke and Zhang Yong)

Zhuyuan village, Shigu town, Yulong county in Yunnan province, is a village sitting in bamboo groves for generations. People here earn a living by making good use of bamboos in the mountain. Thus, most villagers here are good at bamboo weaving.

However, not every bamboo can be used for weaving. The old ones are brittle and often breaks while the ones too young are easy to be out of shape. Only the newly-born bamboos of the year are suitable for weaving.

He Jieying, a 61-year-old villager, is the inheritor of grass and bamboo weaving, a listed intangible cultural heritage. He is able to figure out the suitable bamboos out of the grove.

He Yingjie is cutting the bamboos. (Photo by Ma Dengke and Zhang Yong)

 A bamboo can be cut into 4 to 6 slices. And the bamboo that is cut down within a day can be used for weaving without soaking. After some basic processes like cutting and peeling, the bamboo strips can be woven into dustpans, sieves and baskets for daily use. With the outstanding skills of the villagers, the products can be seen here in every family.

Bamboo weaving skill. (Photo by Ma Dengke and Zhang Yong)

With the development of tourism in Shigu town, Zhuyuan people have improved the products. They now produce bamboo animals, vases and other delicate gifts for the tourists.

Source: Read Lijiang; Trans-editing by Wang Yunya