On May 30th, the second phase of the “Fun at Huaihua Museum · Trendy Cultural Intangible Heritage” Handicraft Flea Market kicked off at Huaihua Museum. Numerous citizens and tourists gathered together to immersively experience the unique charm of traditional intangible cultural heritage colliding with modern creativity.

The event site was bustling with crowds. Five intangible cultural heritage studios from Huaihua University—“Pattern Vogue” “New Creations of Intangible Heritage” “Folk Artifacts” “Everything Can Be Lacquered” and “Integrated and Created Design”—appeared together. The student artisans revitalized traditional crafts with trendy designs, incorporating elements such as lacquer, folk patterns, and local specialties into cultural and creative products, attracting many citizens to stop to admire and make purchases.

For the first time, the fair featured an experience area for the traditional medicines falling into intangible cultural heritage(ICH). Inheritors of three ICH projects(namely, the Dong ethnic Tang’s Martial Medical Massage, Yang’s Red Palm Therapy, and Jingzhou Tao’s Bone Setting Therapy) demonstrated their skills on-site, offering health and wellness experiences to citizens and allowing them to experience the profound depth of traditional medicine culture up close. At the booths of local ICH specialties such as Wushui paper-cutting, cloisonné enamel, Huangjin’ao Dragon Kiln pottery, Yuanling Longxing crispy candy, Zhijiang sour radish, and Qianyang bamboo art, crowds gathered in high spirits. The dazzling array of unique items drew many citizens to snap photos and make purchases.

The parent-child experience area for bamboo art was also very popular. Under the guidance of the Qianyang bamboo art inheritor, 20 families personally polished and crafted bamboo bookmarks, enjoying experiencing the traditional handicrafts through hands-on practice and savoring the warmth and fun brought by intangible cultural heritage.

This handicraft flea market for intangible cultural heritage was open to the public free of charge. Adopting immersive, interactive and experiential innovative forms, it breaks the single model of exhibitions for traditional intangible cultural heritage. It brings local intangible cultural heritage crafts, once hidden in old alleys and recorded only in books, out of obscurity and closer to the public. This further enhances Huaihua’s local cultural brand and revitalizes traditional crafts with new vitality in the new era.

(Translated by Yang Sigui)