Thanks to its subtropical climate, Leizhou City in south China's Guangdong Province is an ideal place for planting cattails.

For millennia, a local weaving tradition has turned these long plants into daily necessities, from baskets to mats. With roots in the Neolithic Age, cattail weaving flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties when products made from the plant's flat leaves became the main exports of the city.

Since the late 1990s, more attention has been given to preserving the Leizhou weaving. In 2012, the technique was added to the fourth batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage list. Nowadays, tourists can experience cattail weaving in Maodegong Grand Garden in Zurong Village, which has boosted the local tourism industry.

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(Video filmed by Wang Siwei and edited by CGTN's Zhao Ying.)

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