Culture
2025.08.17 16:47 GMT+8

Painted dreams of the Bai people

Updated 2025.08.17 16:47 GMT+8
CGTN

Two elderly Bai ethnic women are seen in Dali, southwest China's Yunnan Province. /CGTN

Paintings created by elderly Bai ethnic women are displayed in Dali, southwest China's Yunnan Province. /CGTN

An elderly Bai ethnic woman uses pigments from local soils and embroidery-inspired brushstrokes to create paintings in Dali, southwest China's Yunnan Province. /CGTN

Elderly Bai ethnic women use pigments from local soils and embroidery-inspired brushstrokes to create paintings in Dali, southwest China's Yunnan Province. /CGTN

An elderly Bai ethnic woman uses pigments from local soils and embroidery-inspired brushstrokes to create paintings in Dali, southwest China's Yunnan Province. /CGTN

An elderly Bai ethnic woman uses pigments from local soils and embroidery-inspired brushstrokes to create paintings in Dali, southwest China's Yunnan Province. /CGTN

Elderly Bai ethnic women use pigments from local soils and embroidery-inspired brushstrokes to create paintings in Dali, southwest China's Yunnan Province. /CGTN

Elderly Bai ethnic women use pigments from local soils and embroidery-inspired brushstrokes to create paintings in Dali, southwest China's Yunnan Province. /CGTN

In the ancient town of Dali in Yunnan Province, a group of elderly Bai ethnic women are reshaping folk art – hoes in one hand, paintbrushes in the other. They grind pigments from the region's colorful, rich soils and translate the intricate techniques of embroidery into every brushstroke. Their paintings carry the fragrance of the earth and the warmth of handmade craft. Illiterate yet eloquent in color, these "self-taught artists" paint their names with a brush, capturing not only their own stories but also the Bai people's poetic vision of beauty and the timeless romance of life beside Erhai Lake.

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