Intangible cultural heritage and local cultural works from Taixing city – administered by Taizhou, in East China's Jiangsu province – appeared to great effect at the 13th Jiangsu Book Fair on July 1 to 5 in Suzhou city, also in the province.
They included a local flower-drum dance, puppet show, mahjong carvings, gingko wood carvings, Guangling flower arrangements, as well as Huangqiao shaobing, or bucket-baked rolls.
Dating back over 300 years, the Taixing flower-drum dance was developed by farmer artists in the old days to earn a living. It often uses red lights as the main prop, with lit candles inserted inside the red lights so the dance gains another name – Ye Huo Deng.
Taixing intangible cultural heritage inheritors perform a puppet show at the 13th Jiangsu Book Fair. [Photo/WeChat account: txfabu]
During the book fair, Taixing also exhibited achievements it's made since the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
These included themed story chronicles, innovative products inspired by chronicles, as well as image and video chronicles – in a bid to share the special local culture.
Currently, Taixing is home to 71 intangible cultural heritage items, including a national-level one and three provincial-level items. There are also 32 intangible cultural heritage inheritors in the city – who pass on its various handicrafts and other forms of creative endeavor to future generations.