"I weave hemp bags without it getting in the way of looking after my grandson." On May 15, at the Yueyahu Handicraft Workshop in Binhie Jiayuan No. 4 Village, Yueyahu Township, Xingqing District, Yinchuan City, 52-year-old Ma Zhengying chatted with the reporter while busy with the work in her hands, her two-year-old grandson sitting nearby eating.

"I don't keep exact track of how much I earn. When my grandson isn't fussing, I can weave two or three hours a day and make over 500 yuan. It doesn't affect looking after my grandson, and it doesn't get in the way of cooking for my youngest daughter who is still in school. I earn money just sitting at home," Ma Zhengying said.

More than 20 years ago, Ding Yufeng was left paraplegic after being crushed by a greenhouse. She came in her wheelchair to deliver finished products—21 shoulder bags in all. Others' woven bags are bought at 26 yuan each, but hers are bought at 35 yuan. Ding Yufeng said: "I can't sit for long periods, so I weave lying on my stomach at home. My family calls this the 'kang-side economy.' Because I can't work too long each day, my monthly income is only a few hundred yuan, but having something to do means I no longer feel like a useless person."

That day was when Zhang Jing, inheritor of the Ningxia intangible cultural heritage hemp-weaving craft, came to the Yueyahu Handicraft Workshop to collect the semi-finished products from initial processing. Zhang Jing is the fourth-generation inheritor of her family's hemp-weaving craft and a regional-level inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage hemp-weaving craft. In 2017, Zhang Jing founded the Yueyahu Handicraft Workshop. To date, it has trained more than 1,000 person-times from disadvantaged groups, with more than 200 able to take on orders, among whom 73—including 23 people with disabilities—have stable employment in initial hemp-weaving processing in the resettlement villages and later-stage fine finishing in the community.

During training, Zhang Jing patiently passed on the hemp-weaving craft according to the actual circumstances of the trainees and answered their weaving questions. To encourage more villagers to take part, she provided hemp rope free of charge, taught them hand in hand, went into the villages monthly to "collect the goods," and paid wages by the piece. "Even if the work isn't good, we still buy it, so that everyone has the confidence to keep going," Zhang Jing said, noting that the highest annual income among the resettled weavers exceeds 10,000 yuan.

"Most young people have gone out to work, so we pay special attention to groups such as people with disabilities, the elderly, and women left behind in the villages. We have to find ways to get them active too," Zhang Jing said. Ma Youyun, 56, lost his right leg in a car accident, but his hands are nimble, and he stands out among the many disabled trainees. "During the busy farming season I have no time to weave; in the slack season I earn a bit more."

Intangible cultural heritage cannot lie dormant in exhibition halls; only by coming alive and staying close to daily life can it radiate greater vitality.

Separated from the workshop by a single wall is the hemp-weaving intangible cultural heritage exhibition hall, displaying artworks designed by Zhang Jing such as Silk Road Camel and Tan Sheep Baby, as well as practical items such as handbags, coasters, wallets, and keychains. With a young person's design sensibility, she has turned hemp products into "trendy branded products," bringing hemp goods truly into people's lives. "What I do is productive inheritance and innovative development. While better integrating tradition with fashion, I teach everyone to learn the hemp-weaving craft and increase their income, and this intangible cultural heritage craft gains new vitality," Zhang Jing said.

In each acrylic photo frame are mounted the honors these artworks have received. Tan Sheep Baby won the Gold Award at the 2020 China Characteristic Tourism Commodities Competition; the Silk Road Camel keychain was selected for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's "Cultural China Gifts"; and the "Green Mountains Cannot Be Blocked—Helan Mountain Rock Art Series" was selected as a regular gift for external exchanges by Chinese embassies abroad. In 2022, the Yueyahu Handicraft Workshop was selected as a "Typical Case of Intangible Cultural Heritage Workshops" hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the National Rural Revitalization Administration, and as a typical case in the first batch of national "One County, One Product" characteristic culture and art typical cases held by the National Rural Revitalization Administration.

For Zhang Jing, every transaction is an affirmation of the villagers' hard work and an important way for them to increase their income. As she designed it, each hemp-woven piece for sale carries a unique and meaningful tag—"Opening the window facing the threshing floor, we talk over wine about mulberries and hemp." "Keep the craftsman's spirit, pass on the warmth of the fingertips." The tags do not list prices but instead bear a smiling photo printed with the villager's signature. "Behind every photo there is a story. Many of the resettled people cannot write their names, so I teach them to write them," Zhang Jing said, believing that these sincere expressions can let consumers, amid their busy lives, feel the emotional connection and warmth between people.

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." As an inheritor of intangible cultural heritage and a former poverty-alleviation official in the culture and tourism system, Zhang Jing has no intention of stopping. "I will lead more people to turn 'fingertip skills' into a 'fingertip economy,' using every stitch and thread to help rural revitalization."