Beijing Women's Federation

Zhang Yajun, President of the BWF, (second from right) and Xu Jicheng, (third from right), Director of Media Operations Department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, visit the women's handicraft bazaar. [Beijing Women's Federation]

A women's handicrafts fair sponsored by the Beijing Women's Federation (BWF) and the Beijing Qiaoniang (Smart Lady) Handicraft Development Association (BQHDA), and organized by fashion design firm the EVE Group, opened its door on July 9 as an event of the 2021 China Children and Women's Industry Expo at the China National Convention Center in Beijing.

Zhang Yajun, President of the BWF, and Xu Jicheng, Director of Media Operations Department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, visited the fair together with guests from embassies of some countries in China.

Zhou Jing, a first-level inspector of the BWF, Han Guihua, head of the Women’s Development Department of the BWF, and Xia Hua, Chairman of BQHDA and the Eve Group, jointly beat a drum to open the fair.

With themes "craftsmanship, cultural inheritance, regional cooperation, and win-win developments," the 200-square-meter fair showcased works of 13 Smart Lady studios from Beijing's nine districts.

A total of 1,018 exhibits were on display, containing sculptures, embroidery works, carvings and pottery. Fourteen enterprises and studios from Tianjin, Lhasa, Hebei Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, four major areas that the capital has offered assistance to their development, also provided 478 exhibits.

During the event, a ticket package that offered access to items including painted moon-shaped fans, and dough sculptures in the form of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs in the experience area attracted lots of children and their parents.

The 240-square-meter exhibition hall and the involvement of 100 handicraft courses helped the Smart Lady studios to strengthen its links with market and schools, building a platform for inheriting traditional culture and encouraging women to earn a living through flexible employment.

Statistics shows that sales at the fair brought about some 658,500 yuan (US $101,307), with 102 intended deals worth 500,000 yuan (US $76,923) reached. More than 1,000 people participated in the event and most of the participating studios and entrepreneurs were satisfied with the event. They said the most important result of attending the event lies in brand promotion and feedback from market. The bazaar also provided a lot of first-hand information on innovation and further development.

The fair offered a cooperation platform for craftswomen to display their products, and draw on others' experiences. It allowed traditional Chinese fingertip art to bloom, and encouraged practitioners to create greater commercial value.

President of the BWF Zhang Yajun (center in the third row) visits the handicrafts fair. [Beijing Women's Federation]

Zhou Jing, a first-level Inspector of the BWF, Han Guihua, head of the Women’s Development Department of the BWF, and Xia Hua, Chairman of the BQHDA and the Eve Group, jointly beat a drum to open the handicrafts fair. [Beijing Women's Federation]

Twin sisters gravitate towards the process of making dough sculptures in the experience area of the handicrafts fair. [Beijing Women's Federation]

A tourist tries to draw on a kite in the experience area of the handicrafts fair. [Beijing Women's Federation]

Liu Wenling (first from left), Vice-President of the BQHDA, accompanies foreign guests at the fair. [Beijing Women's Federation]

The Beijing Smart Lady handicrafts fair at the 2021 China Children and Women Industry Expo [Beijing Women's Federation]