International students visit Jiangnan University's Folk Costume Heritage Museum. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Thirty-eight teachers and students from Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, and Greece embarked on an immersive study tour in Wuxi, exploring the rich heritage of Chinese traditional clothing and its transformation through cutting-edge technology and contemporary design.

The program combined academic lectures with hands-on cultural experiences, offering participants a comprehensive understanding of how centuries-old craftsmanship continues to evolve in the modern era.

A three-part lecture series introduced students to the history, symbolism, and structure of traditional Chinese attire before shifting focus to emerging fields such as intelligent garments, soft robotics, and the integration of artificial intelligence-generated content (AIGC) into fashion research and digital heritage preservation.

International students visit Jiangnan University's Folk Costume Heritage Museum. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

At Jiangnan University's Folk Costume Heritage Museum, participants examined a collection of representative traditional Chinese garments alongside wedding attire that blended Chinese and Western styles. Through close observation, they traced the evolution of clothing forms and gained insight into cultural exchange across different historical periods.

Beyond the classroom, the group explored Huishan Ancient Town, where traditional Jiangnan architecture and ancestral halls provided a window into the region's cultural legacy.

The students also learned the intricate techniques of Wuxi fine embroidery under the guidance of national intangible cultural heritage inheritor Zhao Hongyu and her apprentices, practicing silk splitting, threading, and stitching while creating their own embroidery pieces.

The cultural journey extended to Hai'an in Nantong, where participants visited a tie-dye museum and multiple production workshops. There, they observed the entire manufacturing process from traditional handcrafting to robot-assisted dyeing and designed their own tie-dyed tote bags.

At the Fumei Hat Museum, the group explored the evolution of headwear in China and around the world while trying the traditional diancui (kingfisher feather inlay) decorative technique to create hair ornaments. Visits to Huayi Tie-Dye Factory and Fumei's manufacturing facilities further demonstrated how traditional handicrafts are being integrated into modern production systems.