How a sleepy farming hamlet in rural Jiangsu became China’s thriving lingerie capital

In a house just off a wheat field in Tiaohe village in China’s eastern Jiangsu province, Geng Juan presses a small gauze triangle against a long black string and runs the two pieces through a sewing machine.

She then attaches the string to the end of the triangle, makes a few snips and adds it to the pile of G-string thongs growing on her workbench.