Tanchois are a very fine weave banarasi sarees that use an extra weft thread to create delicate patterns. Tanchoi weaving is one of the complex and  technical weaving techniques as it uses one or two warp and two to five weft colors. These sarees are extremely light weight and soft to drape.

 It is believed that this art originated in China and was brought to India by three Chinese brothers with the last name ‘choi.’  Thus, the technique came to be known as ‘Tanchoi’, which literally means ‘three chois’ (tan – three, Choi – brothers). 

This art was introduced to the Indian weavers by them in Surat (Gujarat) from where it traveled to Varanasi. It is in Banaras that the weavers started experimenting with Zari & Satin wefts to create new versions and the art gained popularity. Since then the mix of Chinese technique with Indian style of weaving was created to form the Indianised version of Tanchoi sarees