The Art of Tie-dye: Cloth that Conjure up Beautiful Flower Patterns

Known also as the “knot flower”, Bai ethnic tie-dye is an ancient textile dyeing technique in China. In 2006, it was included in the National Catalogue for Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritages. Tie-dye has always used the most simple and pure craftsmanship handed down from ancestors of the Bai ethnicity. Indigo plant, radix isatidis, and artemisia, which are natural plants grown on the Cang Mountain, have served as the special dyes for the special technique. A white scarf has to go through the processes of drawing, designing, printing, flower tying, soaking, depulping, sinking and dyeing, oxidation, thread removal, rinsing and drying before it becomes a beautiful tie-dye works in the hands of tourists. The tie-dye cloths that can be seen everywhere in the streets of Dali, Yunnan, are telling the long history of this intangible cultural heritage. Apart from the Cang Mountain and the Erhai Lake, there are such splendid cultures at the southwestern corner of the country that add color to the beauty of nature.