Wearing new clothes is one of the most cherished traditions of Chinese New Year, symbolizing a fresh start. In recent years, with the surge of the "Chinese chic" trend, traditional attire, known as Hanfu-once a niche interest-has broken out to become a nationwide craze. Celebrating Chinese New Year in Hanfu is now a global fashion.
As a key production hub accounting for roughly half of China's Hanfu market, Caoxian County in Shandong Province has frequently found itself in the spotlight. With the Year of the Horse approaching, this county is stepping back into the limelight, celebrating a booming start to the season for both Hanfu production and sales. But how does a simple piece of fabric transform into a "Year of the Horse" wardrobe for consumers? Ahead of this Chinese New Year, our journalists traced the "birth journey" of Hanfu across industrial parks, design studios, and delivery companies in Caoxian County, embarking on an adventure from original design to brands' global expansion.
One fabric with infinite creations
At the Youai Cloud Warehouse Hanfu Base in Caoxian County, customers were picking out New Year outfits, filling the air with festive cheer. "We specially designed a series of Hanfu for the Year of the Horse. Our themed pieces featuring horse and red designs are the bestsellers," said founder Li Zilei.
"If we do it, we do our own brand," Li added. From the very beginning, he has insisted that all styles must be original. Intellectual property (IP) is the cornerstone of the brand. "The moment a design is finalized, we immediately register its copyright," he said.
This commitment to originality is paying off in the market. Lu Chuanmang, a post-2000s e-commerce operator at the base, feels this impact firsthand. His livestreaming room has not only attracted viewers from across China but also reached international audiences. "My motivation is to sell more clothes and share our traditional culture with the world," Lu said, proudly showing photos on his phone of himself with international customers. To him, every sale of an original Hanfu is a successful act of cultural promotion. When asked about his New Year wish, he laughed: "I hope that one day when I walk down the street, I see everyone dressed in Hanfu!"
An order on a thousand-mile journey
Early in the morning, Caoxian County's delivery sorting centers were already bustling. Processing volumes were surging and working hours were stretched to the limit-deliveryman Sha Zhuang and his colleagues at the Caoxian County Shuntong Express Company have fully entered the festival rush. Dong Limin, manager of the Caoxian County Public Logistics Service Center, confirmed: "We don't take holidays during Chinese New Year. Overall delivery volume has nearly doubled, with Hanfu shipments growing especially fast."
The pulse of logistics reflects the heated demand on e-commerce platforms. Liu Xia, deputy director of the Caoxian County E-commerce Service Center, revealed that in 2025, total Hanfu sales-online and offline-exceeded 13 billion yuan, accounting for over 50% of the national market. She summed this phenomenon up vividly: "Phones and computers are our locals' new farm tools, and livestreaming sales have become the new farming."
Leveraging the "high-speed channel" built by e-commerce and logistics, Caoxian County has sent exquisite Hanfu pieces to universities, cultural sites, and into daily life, turning each outfit into a "moving panorama" of traditional Chinese style.
A modern industry in full bloom
Browsing the Caoxian Hanfu app, you will find a comprehensive platform: supply-demand matching, Hanfu procurement, copyright transactions, digital finance-all clearly reflecting the county's Hanfu industry chain.
In Caoxian County, "digital+Hanfu" applications are becoming increasingly common. The Youai Cloud Warehouse Hanfu Base was one of the first local enterprises to adopt smart digital upgrades, significantly boosting production efficiency. "Compared with three or four years ago, many of our production machines have been upgraded. For example, the laser cutting machines can scan fabrics in real time and follow automatically generated paths for precise cutting-it's fast and accurate," Li explained. The base now operates a fully digital factory, managing the entire process from production to sales.
Cutting-edge technologies like 3D printing and generative AI are also being widely applied throughout the Hanfu industry. Caoxian County now hosts 2,822 Hanfu companies and over 15,000 online Hanfu stores, creating a complete industry chain covering original design, copyright protection, and product sales. This enables a unique advantage: products made within five kilometers can be customized within 12 hours, reach the highway in 10 minutes, and arrive at the airport in 40 minutes.
A traditional attire's voyage abroad
From local workshops to the international stage, Caoxian County's Hanfu has now made the leap from going viral to going global, with products now reaching more than 30 countries and regions.
Going global requires not only innovation but also solid IP protection. "With support from the Caoxian County Intellectual Property Fast-Track Enforcement Center for Performance Costume and Forestry Products, our copyright registration and design patent applications have become far more efficient. We have stronger backing for policy guidance and post-application enforcement," said Chen Long, head of the Shan He Jin Xiu Hanfu Design Studio.
"For Hanfu's short product life cycle, our patent pre-examination service maintains strict quality control, significantly boosting the industry cluster's innovative vitality," explained Liu Hongbin, director of the center. To support local brands going abroad, the center also continuously improves its IP services for overseas markets, offering foreign risk training, monitoring overseas disputes, and guiding companies through international trademark applications under the Madrid system-helping Caoxian County's Hanfu navigate the global market with confidence.