Aijim (L) and her mother Uran walk along a river in Ewenki Autonomous Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Xu Qin)
HULUN BUIR, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Aijim, born in the 90s, is a girl of Ewenki ethnic group living in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. In 2014, she returned to her hometown at Ewenki Autonomous Banner, Hulun Buir City after graduation from university, and helped her mother Uran run a handicraft studio. They make handicrafts themed on "Sun Flower", and opened up online business to sell the products.
"Behind the handicrafts we made is the folk story of 'Sun Girl' who brought warmth and light to Ewenki people," said Aijim. In order to commemorate the legendary "Sun Girl" in the Ewenki folktale who used her power to make the forest where the Ewenki people lived no longer in cold, the Ewenki people used fur and colored stones to make handicraft items and named them "Sun Flower".
Now a cultural product of Ewenki ethnic group, the "Sun Flower" is getting popular with tourists. Every year, Aijim and her mother's studio receives more than 10,000 orders across the country. With the support of the Sun Flower Inheritance and Development Center, the studio has been expanded and offered training for over 1,000 people to produce the handicrafts, providing working opportunities for many poverty-stricken people and helps them increase their income.
Odentuyaa (L), a local resident lifted out of poverty after paticiapting in the Sun flower production, hands over the handicrafts she made to Uran at the Sun Flower Inheritance and Development Center of Ewenki Autonomous Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Xu Qin)
Aijim takes photos of the handicrafts at the Sun Flower Inheritance and Development Center of Ewenki Autonomous Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Lei)
Aijim (L) introduces handicrafts to a customer at the Sun Flower Inheritance and Development Center of Ewenki Autonomous Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Xu Qin)
Aijim takes photos of the handicrafts at the Sun Flower Inheritance and Development Center of Ewenki Autonomous Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Lei)
Aijim (R) talks with an artisan about the method of making "Sun Flower" in a workshop at the Sun Flower Inheritance and Development Center of Ewenki Autonomous Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Lei)
Aijim (R) and her workmate check orders from their online shop at the Sun Flower Inheritance and Development Center of Ewenki Autonomous Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Lei)
Aijim (L) and her mother Uran walk along a river in Ewenki Autonomous Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Lei)
Aijim (R) introduces handicrafts to customers at the Sun Flower Inheritance and Development Center of Ewenki Autonomous Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Lei)
The handicrafts of the "Sun Flower" are seen at the Sun Flower Inheritance and Development Center of Ewenki Autonomous Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Xu Qin)
Uran (R) talks with artisans in a workshop at the Sun Flower Inheritance and Development Center of Ewenki Autonomous Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Xu Qin)
Aijim (C) talks with artisans about the method of making "Sun Flower" handicrafts in a workshop at the Sun Flower Inheritance and Development Center of Ewenki Autonomous Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Lei)
Aijim (L) learns the method of making "Sun Flower" from her grandmother (C) in Ewenki Autonomous Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Lei)■
