Dreamweaving in Hala Wuz

The border town of Hala Wuz in Tacheng is cradled by snow-capped mountains, a border river, and vast grasslands. It is also home to the simple, close-knit lives of many ethnic groups who have lived alongside one another for generations. For centuries, the crafts of making patterned felt rugs and silver ornaments have passed between communities, their designs preserving history, customs, and the memories of ancestors. A Gu was born into a family of artisans and is the third generation to carry on its traditions. He grew up between his grandfather’s felt tent and his father’s silverwork bench, learning the softness of patterned felt, the luster of silver, and the admonition: “Never forget where you came from.” But the times are quietly changing the town’s fate. Machine-woven felt is flooding the market, traditional crafts are falling into decline, young people are leaving to seek work elsewhere, and the once-bustling markets are growing quiet. For the first time, A Gu feels that everything he cherishes is being pushed to the margins by the times. Seeking a way to keep the crafts alive, he leaves home to study in Tacheng. An unfamiliar campus, cold statistics, factory assembly lines, and the practical choices made by young people all force him to confront the stark clash between tradition and modernity. The roar of the factory, the cultural and creative goods on the commercial street, the arguments in class, and his classmates’ choices all make him wonder: Is tradition really destined to have no place in the future? Can the value of craftsmanship only survive as a memory in a museum? Amid uncertainty and experimentation, A Gu gradually realizes that passing on a tradition does not mean clinging to the past, and change does not mean turning your back on it. The patterns in the felt, the hammer marks on the silver, and the breeze blowing by the river may still find new ways to be seen.