A skilled embroidery artist from Daye County, central China's Hubei Province, has been revitalizing the traditional art through online and offline training programs that have enabled many local residents to use the craft, helping them secure jobs and even start their own businesses.
Liu Xiaohong, a skilled embroidery artist, began learning the traditional Daye Embroidery - a recognized provincial intangible cultural heritage from the southeastern region of Hubei - from her grandmother at the age of 12.
Traditionally used in daily clothing, Daye Embroidery caught Liu's attention during a trip to Beijing over 20 years ago, where she discovered that embroidery artworks could fetch surprisingly high prices, prompting her to reassess the modern value of this ancient craft.
"I took my embroidered works to a market in Huangshi. Back then, one piece could sell for several hundred yuan. And a screen could fetch as much as 800 yuan (about 117 U.S. dollars), which greatly inspired me," said Liu.
Liu boldly innovated and developed four new embroidery techniques. Her pieces have won awards at national and provincial embroidery skills competitions. In recent years, she set up an online brand, which integrates popular trends into embroidered products, and gained over 300,000 followers on online platforms by uploading free tutorial videos.
"Through online platforms, our annual sales revenue has hit nearly 2 million yuan (about 280,000 U.S. dollars)," said Liu.
In order to help more people earn a living through embroidery, the local government supported Liu to establish a handicraft skills training school, which has so far trained over 10,000 students. Thanks to the promotion of Liu's embroidery brand, more than 2,000 women in Daye city have either found employment or started their own small businesses through embroidery.
Chinese embroidery artist helps increase locals' income in Hubei
Permanent representative of Israel to the United Nations (UN) Danny Danon on Thursday denied that any discussions had occurred between Israel and the UN regarding delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Danon made these remarks at the UN headquarters in response to a query from a China Central Television (CCTV) reporter about the ongoing failure to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Israel blocked the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza on March 2, following the end of the first phase of a January ceasefire deal with Hamas. It resumed attacks on Gaza on March 18.
With no food, no supplies, and no relief in sight, Gazans have been enduring a relentless fight for survival.
In response to mounting international condemnation, Israel has proposed that its military take over the distribution of aid - a move widely criticized by the international community.
Briefing a Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher noted that the UN has met for over 12 times with the Israeli authorities regarding the latter's proposed aid distribution model, yet no solution had been found.
Danon, however, stated that no discussions have taken place in recent weeks regarding the issue.
"I don't know about that. Actually I listened to Mr. Fletcher's remarks at the Security Council the other day, and I can tell you that he visited Israel but he had no discussion about that fund because it was way back and in the last few weeks there was no dialogue about that. I would expect UN officials to engage when they want to speak about issues they know how to reach us, they know how to reach the U.S. mission. We are here to engage," he said.
"They got some information from the media, I assume. But I think they should look into that and to realize that if they want to be involved, that is the way to be involved," he added, reiterating that the UN has not reached out.
In response to Danon's denial, the United Nations reaffirmed its position, standing by the public statement released by Fletcher.
"I heard what he said, and we stand by what Mr. Fletcher has said," Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for UN Secretary-General noted later on the day, commenting on Danon's statement.
"Mr. Fletcher gave the details," he continued.
Israel envoy denies discussions with UN on enabling Gaza aid deliveries
