We visited several factories in Nampan Village. I will just show you two or three of them. I especially like some of the industries where they create something useful from something very ordinary and plentiful. This factory did lotus fiber weaving. They start with just regular lotus stems and it takes about 100 four foot stems to get about 50 feet of lotus thread. We watched the whole process and learned that it takes about two whole days to make one longi – which is like a pair of pants that are worn by both men and women. They sell for like $3 to $5 US.

1. This woman is stripping the lotus thread out of a lotus stem. This is the start of the whole process. You can see her pile of lotus stems on the floor and she strips about four stems at once.

2. This second photo is part of the process of turning the raw threads into real thread. The process looks automated but the power to turn the wheels is coming from her right arm and her right leg.

3. This is more of the thread making and thread coloring process and again, her right hand is turning the wheels.

4. This is part of the weaving process and it too is all human powered.

5. We are now getting to the lotus thread cloth.