Yang attributes the popularity of her work to the unique charm of Chinese ethnic culture and China's status as one of the world's largest markets.

"What belongs to the nation belongs to the world, and what is traditional can become fashionable. The key is that we must learn to innovate because that is the best form of inheritance and the best way to give the past a future," she says.

In recent years, Yang has attached great importance to cultivating inheritors. She now has 58 apprentices from diverse backgrounds, including rural women, the physically challenged, university teachers and nuns.

She also established workshops in several locations, including Chengdu, and Jiuzhaigou and Wenchuan counties in Sichuan, where she has taught embroidery skills to thousands of women for free, including hundreds with disabilities.

Tang Suhua, 55 and physically limited due to polio, learned embroidery from Yang seven years ago and is now the deputy curator of the Chengdu Huazhen Tibetan and Qiang Culture Museum.

"I thank Yang for her great love. She is like family to me," Tang says.

"Before meeting her, my family was struggling to make ends meet. Now, a stable job has given me the confidence to face life."