Culture nurtures life in "kite capital of the world"

Data from Weifang municipal bureau of culture and tourism showed that, as of April this year, Weifang had 331 representative intangible cultural heritage projects above the municipal level with a total of 289 representative inheritors, and those above the provincial level and their inheritors are among the top three in Shandong province.

Photo taken on July 8 showed that children were learning about kite-making in the Shihuyuan community in Weifang.

Li Jinbo, a city-level representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage project of Gaomi paper-cutting is creating paper-cutting works featuring a hundred of different dragons.

Weifang, also known as "kite capital of the world", was called Wei County in ancient times. Located in the middle of Shandong Peninsula, Weifang enjoys a long history, profound cultural background and rich and colorful intangible cultural heritages. 

Culture is the root and soul of a city. In recent years, Weifang has attached great importance to cultural development. In 2018, Weifang opened the Shihuyuan intangible cultural heritage space, gathering an array of representative key intangible cultural heritage projects such as Weifang kites, Yangjiabu wood engraving Chinese New Year paintings and Zhucheng Guqin. 

Last year, Weifang's Wei River Cultural and Ecological Protection Experimental Zone was officially upgraded to Qilu Cultural (Weifang) Ecological Protection Zone, which is the only national cultural and ecological protection zone in Shandong. The reserve covers the whole territory of Weifang and is a specific area highlighting the protection of intangible cultural heritage and the overall protection of Wei River culture. 

With solid progress made in infrastructure construction in the protected areas, traditional culture has gradually integrated into the life and production of local people, enriching the city's social development.