By Yuan Xiaojie

Recently, 2026 UN Chinese Language Day event was held at the Palace of Nations, Geneva, Switzerland. As an important international platform for showcasing outstanding traditional Chinese culture, the intangible cultural heritage interactive exhibition area at this event featured numerous highlights. The Huayu embroidery homespun cloth, an intangible cultural heritage from Sanxing Town, Haimen District, made a stunning appearance.

Zheng Wen, founder of the homespun-cloth cultural and creative home textile brand, introduced that Huayu Embroidery has worked in the intangible cultural heritage homespun cloth field in-depth for 17 years. It has participated in many domestic and international exhibitions. Last year, it established contact with CCTV. ‘After we received the notice from CCTV, we shipped the product over the very next day.’

The team carefully selected the exhibition categories and ultimately chose six cultural and creative products, including embroidered cushions themed on the Year of the Dragon and the Year of the Horse, as well as designs featuring antelopes and Tang horses. ‘We hope to let the world see that the intangible cultural heritage homespun cloth is a traditional fabric unique to China,’ Zheng Wen said. ‘It is completely different from printed and dyed fabrics originating from Europe, with its own distinctive texture and cultural depth. It is a cultural symbol that carries Chinese agrarian civilization and embodies the wisdom of working people.’

‘A friend suggested that we do not translate the name “homespun cloth”, just use the pinyin “Laocubu” directly. It is to tell foreign friends that this is traditional Chinese cloth.’ Zheng Wen said, ‘Just like the Mamianqun and pandas, when these names are mentioned, people around the world immediately associate them with China — that is cultural confidence.’

【背景阅读】

亮相瑞士日内瓦

非遗土布走向世界

近日，2026年联合国中文日庆祝活动在瑞士日内瓦万国宫举行。作为中华优秀传统文化对外展示的重要国际平台，本次活动非遗互动展区亮点纷呈。来自海门区三星镇的华御绣非遗土布惊艳亮相。

土布文创家纺主理人郑文介绍，华御绣深耕非遗土布领域已有17年，参加过众多国内外展会，去年与央视建立了联系。“今年3月底收到央视通知后，我们第二天就把产品寄了过去。”

团队精心甄选参展品类，最终确定龙年、马年生肖刺绣抱枕及羚羊、唐马等6款文创好物。“我们希望让世界看见，非遗土布是独属于中国的传统面料。”郑文表示，它与源自欧洲的印染面料截然不同，自带独特肌理与人文内涵，本身就是承载中华农耕文明、凝聚劳动人民智慧的文化符号。

“有朋友建议我们不要翻译‘老粗布’这个名字，直接用拼音‘Laocubu’，就是告诉外国朋友，这就是中国的传统布。”郑文说，“就像马面裙、熊猫一样，提到这些名词，全世界都知道指向中国，这就是文化自信。”