Wandering Through Chinese Intangible Heritage: Encountering Millennia-Old Crafts

Across the vast land of China, traditional crafts shine like bright stars, illuminating the long river of thousands of years of civilization. Each craft carries the wisdom and aesthetics of the ancients, being a tangible and experiential cultural treasure. When traveling in China, slow down, go deep into the streets and workshops, and encounter these legendary crafts passed down to the present.

Paper-cutting is one of the most popular traditional crafts. With scissors as brushes and red paper as the medium, flowers, birds, fish, insects and folk allusions are outlined in a few strokes. Weixian paper-cutting in Hebei and Shaanxi paper-cutting have distinct styles. You can not only appreciate exquisite works in local intangible heritage Museums but also participate in hands-on experiences and take your own paper-cutting works as travel souvenirs. Su Embroidery, Hunan Embroidery, Guangdong Embroidery and Shu Embroidery are known as the “Four Great Embroideries of China”, showing oriental aesthetics through the flow of needles and threads. Suzhou Embroidery Museum and Guangzhou Embroidery Workshop are ideal places to immerse yourself in the charm of embroidery.

Pottery art hides the wisdom of the ancients communicating with soil. Jingdezhen in Jiangxi, known as the “Porcelain Capital”, is a must-visit for pottery lovers. Here, you can visit ancient kiln sites to witness the complete process of porcelain from blank making, glazing to firing. You can also pull blanks and paint by hand in pottery workshops, feeling the wonderful transformation of soil in your hands. In addition, the dazzling cloisonné in Beijing, the vivid Sichuan shadow puppetry, and the long-lasting fragrance of Huizhou ink in Anhui are all unmissable cultural experiences. Each craft allows you to understand the profound heritage of Chinese Culture.