Bendi Stories: Reimagining Jiama in Weishan

In Weishan, a historic market town in Yunnan near Dali, Jiama still appears in daily life. Found across Yunnan, these traditional folk woodblock prints are tied to blessings, auspicious occasions, and protection, and have long been used in homes and local ritual settings. For Guo Xinrui, who came to Weishan looking for a slower life, they also became the starting point for something new.

Guo Xinrui did not come to Weishan planning to open a shop or work with Jiama. After leaving a demanding job in Shaanxi, she was looking for a break when a friend suggested Weishan as a place to slow down. She arrived soon after, rented a courtyard, and turned it into a small homestay. Only once that project was finished did she begin thinking about what might come next. That was when Jiama entered the picture.

Before moving to Weishan, Guo Xinrui and her business partner had worked with custom gifts and branded materials. That background shaped the way they responded to Jiama when they encountered it locally. They were drawn to the boldness of the imagery and the directness of its visual language. Some motifs even carried an almost graphic, comic-like quality that made them feel accessible to younger audiences. To them, Jiama seemed well suited to objects for daily use.

They started small, selling just two products from a simple stall. When people reacted positively, they added more. The business grew step by step, and the shop came later. From the beginning, the idea was not simply to reproduce Jiama, but to turn it into things people could actually use in daily life.

The process begins with traditional Jiama patterns, which Guo Xinrui reworks by softening certain elements and adapting others. The designs are then rescanned and recolored, moving beyond the traditional palette of black, white, red, and yellow.

She is not presenting Jiama only as a historical artifact, nor is she removing it entirely from local context. Instead, she is working with it as a form that can continue to circulate through daily life in the objects people choose to buy, keep, and take home.

Her story also feels closely tied to Weishan itself. This is a town where older traditions remain visible, but also one where newcomers arrive and begin building lives of their own. In Guo Xinrui’s case, that meant encountering a local folk-art form, recognizing another possibility within it, and slowly building a business around that idea.

Words by: Gabrielle Keepfer 
Video produced by: WildChina 碧山 
Cinematography and editing by: Charles Zhu 
Subtitles by: Gabrielle Keepfer and Olivia Zhao
A special thanks to: Guo Xinrui
Location: Weishan, Yunnan