Yunnan ethnic textiles make a hit at London Craft Week
As part of China’s exhibition for the 2025 London Craft Week, the project "Mother’s Needlework" recently arrived in the UK, unveiling a cultural feast that showcases Chinese intangible heritages.
The UK residents try the Dulong costumes from China’s Yunnan province at the 2025 London Craft Week.
Counselor Hua Mei, wife of Chinese Ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang, hosted a cultural event themed "the beauty of Chinese intangible cultural heritages." The event was attended by women representatives from various sectors in London.
The attendees immersed themselves in the charm of traditional Chinese craftsmanship and listened to stories of poverty alleviation in ethnic areas. While admiring the unity among China’s diverse ethnic groups, they celebrated the beauty of cross-cultural dialogue.
During the event, guests explored the cultural significance and development stages of the Dulong blanket – a living fossil of Chinese linen and cotton textiles – through live demonstrations of the Dulong weaving technique from Yunnan.
Dulong women win the nickname of "rainbow weavers."
Scholars shared the Dulong ethnic group’s "leap from primitive society to modern civilization in a single stride" through poverty eradication efforts. Ethnic fashion shows featuring Yi and Mongolian traditional costumes won applause on the spot.
Participants also dipped into hands-on embroidery workshops, experiencing the warmth and artistry of Chinese handicrafts firsthand.
Used as "clothes in the day and quilt at night," the Dulong blanket is a dressing symbol of the Dulong people, one of the less populated ethnic groups in China. The hand-woven blanket is famous for its fine techniques and bright colors.
Views of the Dulongjiang Highway
The blanket – known as “Yueduo” in the Dulong language – is entirely handmade by Dulong women, for whom weaving forms an essential part of daily life. The rainbow-striped patterns created with colorful woolen threads have earned the Dulong people the nickname "weavers of rainbows."
In 2022, the Dulong-blanket making was listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Yunnan.
As an ethnic group that directly entered socialist society from a primitive one, the Dulong people all live in Dulongjiang Township. Recent years have witnessed great changes in this once-deeply impoverished region.
A minibus gets out of the snowy Gaoligong Mountain Tunnel on the Dulongjiang Highway.
In September1999, the Dulongjiang Highway was put into use, ending the centuries-old reliance on human and animal transport.
Since 2011, the Dulongjiang road has seen upgrades. In November 2015, the Gaoligong Mountain Tunnel opened to traffic, ending the township’s annual isolation of six months due to snow blockades.
By late 2018, the Dulongjiang township and Dulong ethnic group was removed from the impoverished list as a whole.
The Dulong families enjoy new houses and livelihoods.
Today, all villages in Dulongjiang are accessed by cemented roads and 4G networks, with local families enjoying new houses and livelihoods. E-commerce, express delivery, and live streams have become daily necessities, while local specialties like Amomum tsao-ko, honey, and the Dulong blanket, have gained nationwide popularity. Rural tourism is unveiling the mysterious land to a growing number of visitors.
By YICC reporters