In a rural courtyard in Xingxing Town, Gangu County, villager Niu Junxia and fellow women gather to weave hemp shoes. With deft needlework, strands of natural hemp gradually form the shoe soles, adorned with intricate patterns, giving shape to a pair of traditional hemp shoes.
As a leading enterprise in Gangu's hemp shoe industry, Gansu Yaluren Hemp Weaving Crafts Development Co., Ltd. provides free skills training annually, enabling 500 to 1,000 women to secure employment, making "working from home" a reality.
"Before, we could only farm. Now, by making hemp shoes, I earn two to three thousand yuan a month—enough to support my family while having a stable income," said Niu Junxia, a hand-weaving artisan, with a smile.
Gangu hemp shoes, a provincial intangible cultural heritage item in Gansu, are known for their breathability, sweat absorption, and antibacterial properties. To break the limitations of traditional designs, the company has integrated tie-dyeing, embroidery, and other traditional crafts with hemp weaving, enhancing the shoes' styles, colors, and functionality. This modernization has successfully attracted younger consumers.
"After these improvements, our hemp shoes have become more fashionable and youthful, appealing to many young people who now embrace this traditional craft," explained Guo Juan, General Manager of Gansu Yaluren Hemp Weaving Crafts Development Co., Ltd.
On the sales front, the company has capitalized on cultural tourism trends and e-commerce growth, building a sales matrix combining short video showcases, live-streaming sales, and online-offline interactions. By documenting the entire weaving process through videos, the intangible heritage craft has gained wider recognition. E-commerce has eliminated geographical barriers, allowing Gangu hemp shoes to expand from rural workshops to national markets, thriving in the modern era.
"Since our founding in 2011, we’ve dedicated over a decade to weaving, preserving, and innovating hemp shoes. From a single product, we now offer over 200 varieties. Moving forward, we aim to leverage not only the current cultural tourism boom but also the vast potential of e-commerce—through short videos, live streams, and interactive sales—to take our hemp shoes further," Guo Juan shared.
With continuous innovation, "Yaluren" hemp shoes now boast more than 200 designs, producing over 300,000 pairs annually. This year, sales are projected to reach 35 million yuan. The company has been recognized as a "National Cultural Industry Demonstration Base" and a "National Women's Poverty Alleviation Demonstration Base." Gangu hemp shoes are not just carriers of intangible heritage but also a thriving industry driving local prosperity and rural revitalization.
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