Traditional cloth shoes such as tiger-head shoes and phoenix-eye shoes produced in Heze, Shandong province have become hot market items.

In recent years, Heze's Mudan district has been promoting the development of the "Shandong handmade" industry by relying on traditional handicrafts such as traditional cloth shoes. 

It has cultivated more than 10 related enterprises and more than 200 micro factories in rural areas, which helps increase employment and incomes for local villagers, and is injecting new vitality into rural vitalization.

Villagers make traditional cloth shoes at a workshop in Anxing town, Mudan district, Heze on Dec 1. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Traditional tiger-head shoes sell well in the market, and increase local villagers' incomes in Heze, Shandong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

It's still customary in many rural areas to dress infants in embroidered tiger-head shoes with the hope that they will become as robust and dynamic as tigers. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Making tiger-head shoes is time-consuming as it requires exquisite embroidery and needlework techniques. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A villager makes tiger-head shoes at a workshop in Anxing town, Mudan district, Heze on Dec 1. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]