On July 18, the ninth intangible cultural heritage fair at the Huaihua Museum kicked off as scheduled. Twenty-eight special heritage booths were orderly arranged along the museum’s indoor corridors, showcasing a variety of traditional handicrafts and local agricultural specialties. A wealth of interactive experiences attracted large numbers of citizens to stop by and check in, allowing everyone to immerse themselves in the unique charm of intangible cultural heritage.
The fair drew a steady stream of visitors, with local specialty food stalls—such as Heicheng pickled vegetables, Yuanling crispy candy, and Jingzhou Poria—proving particularly popular. Many citizens sampled and purchased the featured products on the spot. The lacquer workshop from Tongdao Vocational School made a return appearance, displaying a range of newly finished lacquerware pieces alongside semi-finished items at various stages of production. The meticulous craftsmanship demonstrations drew citizens to stop, inquire, and touch the pieces with their own hands, giving them a deeper understanding of the entire lacquer-making process.
The fair featured eight interactive experience booths, where activities such as borneol care, Tang-style martial arts massage, cloisonné, traditional rubbing, hand-mixed tea drinks, and Wushui paper-cutting were warmly received by the public. Many visitors gathered around the various experience zones—some tried borneol therapy to relax their body and mind, others experienced traditional massage techniques, and still others tried their hand at paper-cutting, making cloisonné pieces, and creating rubbings, while gaining an up-close appreciation of the craftsmanship behind traditional arts. For the cultural and creative booths that offered no hands-on activities—featuring leather goods, woodwork, stone carvings, and the like—the exquisite handmade ornaments also attracted passers-by, who stopped to admire them closely and inquire about the production techniques.
Concurrent supporting cultural activities were also held in the museum. On the fifth floor, the paper-cutting exhibition “Paper & Scissors: Colorful Yunnan” continued to be on display, while a parent-child hands-on experience of Wushui paper-cutting was offered as well in the first-floor hall. Intangible cultural heritage inheritor Wu Jin gave step-by-step guidance on site, and the parents and children folded paper, drew patterns, and wielded scissors together to create paper-cuttings of the Chinese character “Fu” (fortune). The finished works could be taken home as keepsakes. Through hands-on practice, parents and children experienced the joy of this paper-cutting heritage together.
It is learned that the Huaihua Museum’s intangible cultural heritage fair has been held for nine sessions. The event has been continuously optimizing its content and diversifying its offerings. Without pursuing scale or deliberately creating hype, it has built a platform for heritage display and exchange in a people-friendly and immersive format, allowing citizens to experience a variety of intangible cultural heritage items right at their homes nearby. Next Saturday, Huaihua Museum will launch a new session of the fair, with updated heritage display categories and a continued vibrant folk atmosphere. All citizens are welcome to visit and experience the fair.
(Translated by Yang Sigui)