A ceremony marking the export of Huaihua's intangible cultural heritage (ICH) and cultural creation products to Thailand was held at the Huaihua International Land Port Supervision Area on November 15, 2023. This was Huaihua's first export of its ICH and cultural creation products through the international land port.

Eight TEUs of products were delivered, including Chenzhou-made Jiaotai ceramic products and uncolored cartoon figure model sets, worth more than 5.8 million yuan in total.

Chenzhou-made Jiaotai ceramics originated in the Tang Dynasty and became popular in the Song Dynasty. Literally meaning "twisted clay porcelain", the Jiaotai ceramics are made of porcelain clay of two or more colors. The production requires ten procedures: clay selection, clay processing, clay twisting and weaving, shaping, fixing, fine trimming, drying, glazing, loading into the kiln, and firing. The decorative patterns, handmade by craftsmen, are unified both inside and outside the porcelain.

Huaihua boasts rich ICH items, represented by Chenhe Gaoqiang opera, folk songs of the Miao ethnic group, Nuo opera of the Dong ethnic group, cross-stitch skills of the Huayao people, and Chenzhou-made Jiaotai porcelain. Huaihua has registered 591 ICH items at the national, provincial, municipal, and county levels, as well as 892 ICH inheritors.

"The 'ICH going global' campaign will be greatly helpful to Huaihua's innovative transformation and development of its fine cultural traditions, and the campaign will also make Huaihua a more attractive place," said the director of Huaihua's cultural and tourism authority. Huaihua will leverage the international land port to further integrate its ICH resources and promote ICH cultural creation, to better tell Huaihua's stories and China's stories to the world.

Huaihua is an important node city included in the national development strategies of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and the new land-sea transport route to the Indian Ocean. By the end of last month, it has handled 358 freight trains in total, growing 198% year on year.