"I was curious about how the patterns were created by blocking the dye from reaching certain areas," he said.

He is still learning tie-dyeing skills from his parents and plans to start independently making handicrafts in a few years.

"I just want to inherit the ethnic arts," the 21-year-old said.

These days, handmade clothes, hats, bags, shoes and other products made with tie-dyeing are sold at wholesale markets, on online platforms and via livestreaming. Prices range from 50 yuan for a bag to 1,200 yuan for a traditional Bai costume.

The Bai ethnic group is one of 55 in Hunan. Combined, there are 7 million people from ethnic minority groups, including the Miao and the Tujia, in the province, accounting for about 10 percent of its population.

Shi Shunlian, former Party secretary of the village of Shibadong in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture, has opened a Miao embroidery cooperative.

"I was really embarrassed when President Xi Jinping asked me during his visit in 2013 if villagers were striving to live a moderately prosperous life. I said not yet, because we were really poor at that time," the 68-year-old said.

Given that women in the village excel at creating Miao embroidery, which is a national intangible cultural heritage, she established a cooperative in August 2014 to sell handicrafts outside the green mountains.