Yang Huazhen, born in a Tibetan village in Aba Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture in Southwest China's Sichuan province, has turned her childhood passion into a thriving business.

After retiring in 2008, Yang started an embroidery association with 18 like-minded friends. With support from the local government, the company has thrived and Tibetan-Qiang ethnic embroidery has earned an international reputation.

Big brands including Starbucks, Van Gogh Museum, La Poste and Shu Uemura all incorporate Yang's designs in their products.

So far, the company has trained nearly 4,000 people and brought up 58 apprentices. This September, Yang will continue to visit ancient ethnic villages around Sichuan and share her love of traditional embroidery techniques.