Lai Lei, a reading ambassador in Rongjiang County, Guizhou, often shares how reading has completely changed her life with local craftsmen. She once said reading gave her the courage to see the bigger world and encouraged her to return home to follow her beloved traditional craft career.
It is this craft that connects her deeply to her homeland. Guizhou is home to 17 ethnic groups with rich traditional skills. These time-honored crafts improve local rural development. Rongjiang is famous for its popular Village Super League, which shows local ethnic culture through folk performances and handcrafted prizes. The cow-shaped batik (蜡染) dolls for winners are designed by Lai Lei, helping local ethnic culture gain wider attention.
Lai’s life is truly inspiring. She could not speak standard Mandarin until 14 and finished college thanks to donations from villagers. In 2003, Dong cloth weaving, dyeing and embroidery became national intangible cultural heritage. To save the disappearing craft, she quit her job in Shenzhen and returned home. However, the path was not smooth. After failing to get international orders in 2015, she studied books and did countless experiments. Finally, she created the unique “24 Solar Terms indigo dyeing” technique and set domestic industry standards.
Now, she promotes mobile reading to help local students form good habits. She believes reading is a bridge connecting rural villages to the outside world, and that true reading lies in combining knowledge with practice to revitalize (使复苏) traditional crafts.、
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