Jin Fabric of Dai People in Menghai, Yunnan

The Dai people have been practicing weaving cotton yarns or silk threads into a fabric called jin, which means an exquisite, colorful textile in Chinese. And the ethnic group’s jin-weaving has evolved into a provincial-level traditional technique of Yunnan. Most of the Dai-jin pieces that can be seen today are made of cotton yarns.
Dubbed as “beautiful sunglows on fabric”, Dai-jin souvenirs have been on the must-buy list for tourists who travel to Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan. However, Dai-jin fabrics have become increasingly rare, thus more precious, due to the challenge of industrialization. The jin-weaving technique of the Dai people was listed on June 7, 2008 in the second batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage upon the approval of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China.