Zheng Qingyin was born in a Miao ethnic family in Guizhou, Southwest China.  She loved the colorful Miao dresses and Miao embroideries growing up.  When she was twelve, she made her first Miao wooden doll with clothes she stitched as a birthday present for her best friend.  People who saw the doll all loved it, and Zheng liked it very much as well.  Making dolls became her childhood hobby.