After suffering a disabling leg injury in an accident when she was young, Liu Xiaoyun has spent a lot of time crocheting and knitting. She has won two wool arts championships at national vocational skills competitions for people with disabilities. An expert in this field, the 58-year-old Beijing resident was assigned an unexpected task last October—creating the bouquets to be presented to medalists at the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

The victory bouquets at the upcoming Games will not be made of fresh flowers, but of crocheted ones instead.

Crocheted wool flowers were chosen as they are easy to transport, convey a warmer feel and, more importantly, they won't wither, offering Olympians a lasting memory of their moments of glory. Moreover, the technique to produce these flowers has been listed as intangible cultural heritage in China.

Liu's workshop was among those selected to put together the bouquets after Zhang Haidi, Chair of the China Disabled Persons' Federation, called for the participation of people with disabilities in the making of the Paralympic floral arrangements. "We are proud of being part of the Beijing 2022 preparations," Liu said.

Petals on the wind 

Liu works as a consultant to the culture and creative arts workshop at Beijing Hope House, a rehabilitation center for people with spinal cord injuries. The non-profit organization was founded by Tang Zhanxin with help from the government and other organizations. In 2004, Tang lost the ability to walk after being hit by a car. The accident occurred just one day before her scheduled return to China after receiving a master's degree from a German university. She established the center in 2007, initially known as Zhongtu Home, to train people with spinal cord injuries to live independently.

The center often encourages its members to take part in artistic activities. "The workshop was picked because of our team's experience in creating artistic works," Tang told Beijing Review.

The design for the flowers came from Hengyuanxiang, a Shanghai-based time-honored brand specializing in knitting, clothing, home textiles and wool as well as an official sponsor of the Beijing 2022 Games.

Each bouquet features six types of flowers, including a rose to symbolize friendship, a Chinese rose for perseverance, a lily of the valley for happiness, a hydrangea for unity, a laurel for victory, and an olive for peace.

After receiving the design, the center suggested adding blue-colored calliopsis to those bouquets for the Paralympic Games. "Calliopsis symbolizes toughness and braveness. We especially hope to convey the courage and strength of our disabled friends," Liu said. The suggestion was adopted.

Liu crocheted the flowers herself and tutored others. More than 100 people participated in the project. They usually crafted the floral parts at home. Within some two months, they created individual flower petals, leaves and stems for roughly 500 bouquets. With each rose petal requiring around 20 minutes to complete, the crafting of a rose with 10 petals, three leaves and a stem cost at least five hours. According to estimates from Hengyuanxiang, each bouquet needed at least 35 hours to handcraft. 

Guo Yuanyuan is a member of the crocheting team. Born with a spinal disorder, she has been wheelchair-bound for 37 years. "It's completely impossible to do without patience," she said. A laurel blossom, less than one cm in diameter, takes hundreds of stitches, and three to four days of practice to master, according to Guo.

"It really wasn't easy… But every participant was enthusiastic and no one complained," Liu said. After the petals, leaves and stems were completed and sent off to Hope House, Liu and other core members of the project team conducted quality checks and attached the petals and leaves to the stems, carefully connecting the pieces with fine copper wires.

The flowers crocheted by the Hope House team, together with those created by other groups in Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin municipalities, as well as Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, were shipped to Shanghai for quality checks and bouquet assembly.

When flowers open up 

According to Hengyuanxiang, 1,251 crocheted bouquets will be issued during the Beijing 2022 Games. In order to ensure quality, each knitting group is usually only in charge of crocheting one or two flower types.

The thousands of flowers were inspected by Li Meili, designer of the bouquet. The 70-year-old began to learn crocheting and knitting after retiring from her post at a magazine in Shanghai 15 years ago. She has grown into an aficionado in this field and an inheritor of a traditional wool-knitting technique.

In October 2021, Li's design was chosen to craft bouquets for the medalists at the upcoming Games. "At that time, I felt my dream had come true. The design had been under organizing committee review for more than four months. I had thought it was hopeless," she said.

Hengyuanxiang then worked with the All-China Women's Federation and the China Foundation for Disabled Persons to coordinate crocheting teams in different places to work on the project.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Li had to tutor crocheters in other localities through videos and online classes.

To make the bouquets look more delicate, Li chose thin wool as the main material, and fine iron and copper wires to hold the parts in shape. Despite strict size standards, the stalks submitted by different groups often varied in length. Li first trimmed the flowers one by one, but this proved very time and labor-consuming. Later, she used a machine to cut them, which significantly improved work efficiency.

The finished bouquets were first unveiled to the public on December 31, 2021.

"Being able to let crochet flowers bloom at the Olympic Games, I now feel fulfilled," Li said.

(Print Edition Title: Forever in Bloom)

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson 

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