Villages hit their goals

"With the rise of the village soccer games, Rongjiang has gained significant attention, and I, as a local artisan, also wanted to add something to it," she says.

She decided to combine traditional textile art from the region with soccer elements and designed a series of cultural and creative products, which have attracted a large number of people among the crowds who came to watch the sport.

Through word of mouth, the market for Lai's products has grown.

"The number of orders lined up peaked at 600, when we were extremely busy and a bit overwhelmed," Lai says.

"We are still figuring out our customer service and delivery processes, so it is a bit chaotic, but we are also happy because having that many orders so early on is a great sign of progress," she adds.

Lai started training local village women in the ethnic cloth production that involves weaving, embroidering and dyeing in 2015, and has formed cooperation ties with more than 2,000 of them from more than 20 villages in Rongjiang county.

"Weaving is definitely a team effort, much like playing soccer. One person alone cannot achieve much, and it's all about teamwork," she says.

Whenever she receives an order, Lai provides raw materials, offers hands-on guidance on the craftsmanship, and collects the finished products.

It's this collaborative model that allows the local weavers to find employment right on their doorstep, eliminating the need to seek work elsewhere.

Annually on average, they each make around 10,000 yuan ($1,396) from weaving, Lai says.