In an ethnic culture park in Kaili, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Guizhou Province, a special fashion show takes place every Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening. Those who walk the runway are not professional models, but ordinary villagers from nearby counties such as Rongjiang, Congjiang and Liping.
They include embroiderers and mothers who spend their days doing needlework, running market stalls and caring for their families. Dressed in festival attire embroidered with colorful patterns and adorned with silver ornaments, the villagers showcase the ethnic culture they take the greatest pride in under the spotlight.
Qiandongnan was once one of the main battlegrounds in Guizhou's fight against poverty. In the past, the mountains cut off transportation and kept many skills passed down through generations confined to the villages. Miao embroidery, batik and silverwork are more than traditional crafts. Each ethnic costume is like an unwritten history book worn on the body, recording the lives of past generations and carrying people's hopes for a better life.
In July 2024, hoping to give villagers a chance to showcase their festival attire, Miao youth Gu Axin organized a village runway show in his hometown. To his surprise, more and more people signed up to take part, more than could perform in a single day or even two. "Village T" was born and gradually became a shining cultural calling card for the region. It eventually stepped beyond the villages and onto international stages, including China Fashion Week, London Fashion Week, the United Nations Climate Change Conference and New Zealand Fashion Week.
Beyond the runway, the Xiulitao Intangible Cultural Heritage Market has given these once-overlooked crafts a place in the wider market. More than 1,000 stalls have gathered here, and embroidered pieces and handicrafts have found their way to a broader market. "Village T" focuses on showcasing and promoting the culture, while Xiulitao Market provides a platform for entrepreneurship and sales. Together, the runway and the market have connected traditional craftsmanship with modern life.
As of 2026, Guizhou's "Village T" has held more than 1,000 performances, drawing over 80,000 participants from hundreds of surrounding villages and showcasing tens of thousands of ethnic costumes and intangible cultural heritage works. It has welcomed more than 900,000 tourist visits and reached more than 200 surrounding villages. "Village T" has also brought together homestays, restaurants, cultural and creative products, and local specialty goods in these villages, creating more than 3,000 jobs. Through the "Village T + Xiulitao Market" model, local villagers' average annual income has increased by more than 12,000 yuan per person, an increase of more than 40 percent.
Today in Qiandongnan, age-old needles and thread are still embroidering birds and butterflies and stitching together a new way of life. As Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, stressed during his inspection tour of Guizhou, areas with large ethnic minority populations should preserve their distinctive cultures and let them shine through the integrated development of culture and tourism.
From the mountains to the world, the story of "Village T" is a microcosm of China's distinctive path to poverty alleviation. When the culture passed down by previous generations becomes a new industry, and when ordinary villagers become drivers of development, even villages deep in the mountains can reach a wider world.
People's Daily Online