HUANGPU SHANGHAI

Prized Adalis silk, with its special designs, provides income to people in Hotan prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

For thousands of years, prized Adalis silk, with its unique designs, has brought money and fame to Hotan prefecture in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Adalis, a tie-dyed silk, is handcrafted in Hotan and dyed with natural plant and mineral colors, mainly black and white. It has become a renowned tourist souvenir both at home and abroad.

Prized Adalis silk, with its special designs, provides income to people in Hotan prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Ojur Amar, a worker at an Adalis manufacturing company in Jiia township, the birthplace of the silk, occasionally stirs silkworm cocoons with a wooden stick, twisting the raw silk fibers into a strand, and then slowly drawing the thread with a spinning wheel. This is the first step of production.

Matniyaz Mattursun, Party secretary of Azni Bazar village in Jiia, said about 40 families work for Adalis companies.

"Five years ago, the incomes of farmers and herdsmen were low, and it was hard to find a job. Now the circumstances have changed a lot," he said.

Prized Adalis silk, with its special designs, provides income to people in Hotan prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Jiia has seven companies and four cooperatives producing Adalis, with 668 families having workshops at home. Annual output value has reached about 30 million yuan ($4.1 million).

Arzigul Ablat, deputy head of the town, said it will develop exhibitions, training programs, tourism and sightseeing to promote the economy. Cultural products such as hats, hair clips, ties, shoes and notebooks are available.

Prized Adalis silk, with its special designs, provides income to people in Hotan prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Adalis-style clothes were showcased at a fashion show at the Xinjiang Art Museum in July. According to Sun Xiuqin, the designer, "Adalis is like colorful clouds in the sky, like ripples on the sea, and we should inherit this intangible cultural heritage fashion and build this brand well."

The Adalis manufacturing technique was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2008.