Recently, the list of selected individuals for the 2026 First National Rural Craftsman Publicity and Selection was officially released. Xiao Yuelian, a rural craftswoman from Hengyang, was successfully selected and invited to Beijing to attend the National Rural Craftsman Ceremony.

National Rural Craftsman Publicity and Selection honorees are individuals who have made landmark and representative achievements in the creative transformation and innovative development of traditional rural crafts, possess strong industry-driving capacity, play an exemplary and leading role, and have delivered notable results in linking with and benefiting farmers. Only 10 people nationwide received this honor.

When Xiao Yuelian was three months old, polio left her unable to walk normally for the rest of her life. At 32, she was laid off from a state-owned enterprise. In 2000, she led laid-off female workers and people with disabilities in founding Hengyang Zhengxiang Tengyue Arts and Crafts Factory, which mainly produces crocheted clothing, apparel, and craft accessories.

For more than 20 years, Xiao Yuelian has regularly conducted handicraft training. Using a "factory + skills training + home-based employment" model, she has provided free training in needlework and knitting to more than 5,000 person-times, and has helped more than 5,000 people with disabilities, left-behind women, and people in difficulty find employment and increase their incomes.

In recent years, she has kept pace with the times by opening a Douyin account, learning livestreaming, and conducting online training. Her Douyin account has 430,000 followers, and her products are sold to more than 20 countries. She has turned a small workshop into a comprehensive enterprise integrating intangible cultural heritage inheritance, product research and development, production and sales, and employment training for people with disabilities.

 In 2024, Xiao Yuelian was named a National-level Master Rural Craftsman, one of only four people selected in Hunan Province that year. Previously, she had received many national honors, including "Good Chinese Person," "National March 8th Red Banner Pacesetter," "National Model of Self-Improvement," and "National Outstanding Individual in Entrepreneurship and Employment."

(Text/Photo: Xie Xiaoqing, All-Media Reporter)