Born with half a left arm, Yang Kaiqi believes she is one of the lucky people with a disability because she has never experienced a life without one.
"I have met people who became disabled due to accidents and have trouble picking themselves up after a long time. So luckily for me, I was born with a disability," she said.
The 35-year-old, from a small village in Huaihua, Hunan province has never set limits on her life. She now runs a Xiang embroidery store in Changsha, is married, and has a two-year-old son.
Xiang embroidery is a national-level intangible cultural heritage, which originated in Changsha, Hunan province. Xiang is the abbreviation of Hunan province in Chinese.
Xiang embroidery is one of the four best-known styles of embroidery in China along with Su embroidery from Suzhou, Jiangsu province; Shu embroidery, which is popular in Sichuan province and Chongqing; and Yue embroidery, popular in Guangdong province. Xiang embroidery has a history of more than 2,000 years. It features rich colors and has vivid visual effects.
Yang said she was interested in Xiang embroidery since she was little, as one of her neighbors was a Xiang embroiderer and taught her some basics.
She has taken different short training courses and mainly learned the techniques by herself through failing and trying.
"No matter which profession I choose, I need to deal with the fact that I can only do it with one whole arm, so I decided to choose Xiang embroidery because I like it," she said. "The only inconvenience is that I cannot stitch as fast as others."
She has helped more than 1,000 people with disabilities to learn embroidery through training sessions that are always free of charge.
No matter if they are learning because they like it or they want to make extra money, Yang said she is willing to help.
"For people with disabilities, we are not afraid of difficulties. We only worry about whether of not we have a fair chance at trying."