At a tourism promotion event in Hainan province, the special licensing program was drawn to Baniao's strong Silk Road aesthetic.

When researching cuju, she found records of Han Dynasty (206 BC–220) balls unearthed in Gansu province, made of leather and stuffed with feathers and hemp thread.

She also learned that, in 2004, FIFA recognized that soccer originated from Chinese cuju.

"That gave me a quiet sense of pride. Soccer is the world's game, but its great grandfather is Chinese cuju," she said.

The special licensing program has led Zhang's workshop to professionalize in ways it never had to before. Each product now requires a barcode for authenticity. Craftspeople's ages and working hours must be reported. Every item needs bilingual design statements and six photos of documentation.

"It is also a kind of rebirth. Traditional objects must meet market standards to become real products," Zhang said.

For Zhang, it represents not just hemp weaving, but Ningxia's intangible cultural heritage as a whole — seen by the world.

"Aesthetics keep changing. We just have to keep learning — and let the work speak for itself," she said.