Craftswoman looks past disability to inspire others to get creative with tree bark

Drawing her inspiration from nature, 60-year-old Li Shuying from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, breathes new life to birch bark by crafting them into vivid animals, ancient Chinese beauties and breathtaking landscape paintings.

From Bailang town in Arxan city of the region's Hinggan League — an area famous for its lush birch forests — Li has created artworks with birch bark for decades. She collects the bark from dead birch trees or those that fall naturally, cuts the bark into shapes and creatively pieces them together.

"Each artwork I make keeps the natural grain and color of the birch bark. I cut and piece them into mountains, rabbits, cats, portraits and whatever else inspires me," she said. "My first satisfying work was inspired by some plant-themed embroidery my mother had done.

"I feel most proud of my work portraying 108 heroes, the main characters of the Chinese novel Shuihu Zhuan, or Water Margin, which depicts legends from the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127)."

She said that the piece took her three months to make and won her first place at an art competition in Hinggan League in 2013.

It's clearly her passion, as Li's eyes light up whenever she discusses her artwork. This place of happiness comes on the back of a disability that affected her leg, as she faced grim moments and eventually found a meaningful and fulfilling purpose in life.

"I got by on doing flexible work like selling mushrooms or other mountain delicacies before I started creating birch bark pieces in 2002. I joined an art competition organized by the local forestry bureau and won the first prize. Then I got help from the local government who supported me to start a birch bark workshop in 2009.

"At first I was very introverted and dared not to meet people because of the low self-esteem brought by my disability. But everything changed after I found my interest in creating birch bark pieces. My family members have also given me strong support," she said.

Today, her workshop bustles in summer with visitors coming in a continuous stream.

"Most of them come to experience making their own birch bark art pieces, especially the children, and an experience class costs only 15 yuan ($2.10) per person. I also sell finished goods or take bespoke orders. In the peak season from May to September, I can generate a revenue of over 100,000 yuan."

Li said the winter in Bailang is chilly and long with few travelers, so she usually closes the workshop from October to early spring. "I'm not idle during the winter, however, with so much preparation work like collecting materials and thinking what I have to do for next year's birch bark art creation."

She has also given back to the community by assisting others with disabilities by offering them jobs.

"I've taught 60 to 70 people, including those with disabilities, how to make birch bark pieces in the past 10 or more years. My courses are free of charge and I provide them with all the equipment, including cleaned birch bark, paper and picture frames. I have five to six flexible workers at my workshop and three of them have disabilities. They work with me from May to late September — the town's tourism peak season and I pay them a monthly salary of about 3,000 yuan," she said.

Li was recognized as an inheritor of intangible cultural heritage for making birch bark art in 2020 by the Hinggan League. Last year, she opened another workshop in Ulaanhot, the league's capital city.

"The workshop in Ulaanhot is not aimed at making profits, but rather it's a place where more people with disabilities can learn the skills of making birch bark artworks and earn their livings. I organized four training courses last year, with each course attracting 20 disabled people.

"It's not a regular activity but I go there whenever I have spare time. The door of the workshop is always open, so the disabled learners can go there to create their art pieces whenever they want and don't pay any money for electricity or water bills," she said. "Several more training courses will be organized this year."

Li has also utilized new technologies to help enrich her creations and plans to start livestreaming in the near future. "Initially, my shyness held me back, but many of my friends have encouraged me to do some online business. I think it's time for me to set an example for my disabled peers and hopefully they can take some inspiration from what I do."