Paul and Dorothy Lacy are pictured inspecting embroideries in 2009. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Now they have two physical stores in Hong Kong and a big one in Chengdu. In the meantime, their products are available on their website, where customers from around the world can buy the exquisite Miao hand embroidery.

Generally, customers are mainly foreigners who love Chinese handicrafts. They recall a British woman traveling in Chengdu who bought all of the products in the store. She said she was a collector of Chinese handicrafts and she also wanted to help the locals get out of poverty by buying their products.