Wang Xiufen, 37 years old, is the chief craftswoman of Xiuyunfang Embroidered Ball Culture Co., Ltd. in Jingxi city, a county-level city administered by Baise city, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. She has leveraged e-commerce to grow her embroidered ball business and create jobs for local women.

Wang Xiufen embroiders on a ball. (Photo/Wome of China)

In 2009, Wang, graduating from Renmin University of China and hailing from east China's Shandong Province, traveled over 4,000 kilometers to Jingxi to seek new opportunities.

She quickly fell in love with the city's embroidered balls, which are traditional ornaments of the Zhuang ethnic group symbolizing love and good fortune.

Each embroidered ball has 12 petals, with the upper half decorated with embroidered dragons, phoenixes, and mandarin ducks, while the lower half features plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums.

Wang bought one from an elderly woman, attracting a crowd of others eager to sell their own. That day, she left with a bag full of fist-sized embroidered balls.

That marked the start of her connection with the craft. Over time, Wang realized that these beautiful creations seldom reached beyond the local area. Women selling them on the streets earned little. Determined to help, Wang opened an online store to sell the embroidered balls.

She took orders online and then visited households to collect embroidered balls. Her dedication won her husband's support, and together they quit their jobs to focus on the business. In 2013, they established the country's first embroidered ball company.

Photo shows an embroidered ball. (Photo/Wome of China)

As orders grew, custom requests left elderly artisans who are used to traditional methods, feeling uncertain. Determined to help, Wang took it upon herself to learn the craft.

During the day, she visited homes to study techniques and at night, she practiced tirelessly. She treated every artisan as a teacher.

Wang soon discovered just how intricate the process was — starching fabric, cutting, drawing patterns, embroidering, and sewing the balls all required precision. When orders piled up, she worked tirelessly to meet deadlines. She also partnered with businesses to develop tools like cold-drying systems, cutting machines, and embroidery machines, boosting efficiency sixfold.

To avoid repetitive designs, Wang blended traditional techniques with modern aesthetics, creating products like herbal massage hammers. She even wrote a book to standardize the company's production process.

Inspired by Wang, some young people from east China have moved to Guangxi to seek employment opportunities.

Wang's company now produces over 500,000 embroidered balls annually, exporting them to more than 10 countries.

Wang has also shared her skills with local women, helping them boost their incomes. Once a novice, Ma Guiyan became a skilled craftswoman and used her earnings to buy a home in the county seat.

Today, Wang's company accounts for 80 percent of Guangxi's embroidered ball sales. To support local women, Wang has organized over 2,000 training sessions, mentoring more than 3,000 embroiderers. Her efforts have enabled over 100 previously impoverished individuals to boost their average annual income by more than 10,000 yuan ($1,381.27) per person.