[Video/Wuxi Daily]
Wu Xiaoqun, a straw plaiting craftswoman in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province, is dedicated to promoting straw plaiting in recent years.
Wu's close relation with straw plaiting came from an encounter in 2012 with a senior person who set up a stall on a street to peddle his handmade straw plaiting articles, which immediately caught Wu's eyes.
Wu decided to learn how to make the handicraft from the vendor Wang Jiasheng and three months of apprenticeship allowed Wu to master the plaiting of insects.
In addition to small insects, Wu started plaiting large animals, including the phoenix, birds, and twelve zodiac animals.
She also makes straw plaiting articles resembling zongzi, lanterns, roses, and rings, which are popular among young people, to celebrate Dragon Boat Festival, Spring Festival, and Qixi Festival, or Chinese Valentine's Day, each year.
Unlike other straw plaiting craftsmen who prefer colored ribbons, Wu still insists on the traditional palm leaves, even though palm leaf-plaiting articles can only be kept for a relatively short time.
To make her palm leaf-plaiting articles can be kept longer, Wu would boil the fresh palm leaves, let them air dry and then use them to plait articles, which can be preserved for more than 10 years.
