Technical talents fight for victory in Lijiang

A competitor makes embroidery at the 2017 Yunanan Vocational Skill Final in Lijiang on Nov 17. [Photo/Yunnan.cn]

Professional individuals showcased their vocational skills in Lijiang city, Yunnan province on Nov 17.

The 2017 Yunanan Vocational Skills Final was held in Mufu Mansion to select the champions of hand embroidery, Chinese cooking, floriculture, tea art, handmade silverware, hand wood carving, tour guides, carting services, and room services.

During the competition, participants busied themselves with cutting flowers' sprigs, making tea and embroidering. Xu Li, winner of a preliminary match, said that she was so excited to take part in the final in Lijiang and she would like to learn more skills from other competitors.

In recent years, the city attached importance to the training of professional individuals and released preferential policies for technical professionals. As a result, Lijiang now has more than 70,000 technical talents who have made great contributions to the local economy and the inheritance of culture.

A competitor showcases his technical talents at the 2017 Yunanan Vocational Skill Final in Lijiang on Nov 17. [Photo/Yunnan.cn]

Lijiang, a tourist city in Southwest China, received more than 35 million tourists in 2016, racking up a revenue of 60.88 billion yuan ($9.17 billion). Considering those astounding numbers, it's no surprise that nine competition categories were closely related to tourism. The authority hoped that the competition would further encourage people to develop vocational skills in order to boost local tourism, explained Wu Xiaoli from Yunnan Human Resources and Social Security Office.

Holding the vocational skills competition was also an effort to protect and inherit folk and ethnic culture. Statistics show that the city had four items, such as the Dongba paintings of the Naxi ethnic group, listed in the national intangible cultural heritage reserve and another 137 skills, such as the enamel-silver-making technique, were listed in the provincial and municipal intangible cultural heritage reserves.

A woman embroiders fish images on cloth at the 2017 Yunanan Vocational Skill Final in Lijiang on Nov 17. [Photo/Yunnan.cn]