On August 10, 2026, an intangible heritage gallery of Bai embroidery opened in Shuanglang (双廊), a lakeside town on the shore of Erhai Lake in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, built by Zhao Tian’e (赵天鹅), a municipal-level inheritor of Bai embroidery. The gallery is free to all visitors. On opening day, Zhao walked visitors through the folk-culture meaning carried in Bai embroidery patterns, explaining how the construction of each motif, stitch by stitch, holds the ethnic memory of her people, and tracing the cultural roots of the craft in an unhurried narration. She then demonstrated the craft live, running colored threads through a silver needle to show the core techniques of line-work and outlining, the fine handwork of Bai embroidery unfolding in the lifting and turning of the needle.
A Free Gallery with an Inheritor’s Touch
The gallery was planned, designed and built by Zhao Tian’e herself, and its collection spans a wide range of periods and forms. There are fine embroidered works by contemporary artisans, including decorative wall hangings and cultural-creative embroideries; there are precious antique embroidered patches, whose mottled stitches preserve the life wisdom and handcraft inheritance of older generations of Bai women; and there are complete traditional Bai costumes and festival embroideries that show how widely embroidery was used in Bai weddings, festivals and daily life.
Zhao began learning embroidery at the age of 13. “Bai embroidery includes many fine pieces,” she said. “Baby carriers, head wraps and aprons were once embroidered in every household. What they carry is not only Bai culture but also family feeling.” Building the gallery, she explained, was her way of putting out the embroideries she has collected over the years so that more people could see them.
Dozens of Stitches on Display
A stitch-knowledge area in the gallery systematically documents dozens of traditional Bai embroidery techniques, including Tao Zhen, a layered satin stitch that builds soft color gradients; Song Zhen, a pine-needle stitch of fine, dense lines; Suo Bian, an edge-locking stitch that secures outlines; and Panjin, a gold-thread couching technique that adds a metallic sheen to festive garments. The technique and the artistic effect of each stitch are listed for visitors, giving a direct view of the craft’s range. An embroidery experience zone lets visitors pick up needle and thread and try a simple pattern themselves, offering a first-hand sense of Bai embroidery’s appeal.
Training a New Generation of Embroiderers
The gallery is built on the intangible heritage exhibition base of the Shuanglang town New Era Civilization Practice Center. Zhao, recognized locally as a cultural talent, has already run Bai embroidery training sessions at the venue, teaching students the basic stitches, color-matching skills and motif-outlining essentials in an “intensive lectures plus point-to-point guidance” format, strengthening the town’s grassroots heritage-inheritance workforce. Shuanglang town says it will keep running regular heritage training based on local intangible cultural resources, using traditional craft as a bridge to integrate heritage culture with rural civilization building and cultural tourism development.