Guan Huifang (in red) and her family visit the exhibition. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

An itinerant exhibition kicked off at the Suiyueli Cultural and Art Center in Nantong, Jiangsu province, to salute to Guan Huifang, a 97-year-old expert in making blue calico cloth.

The exhibition showcases over 100 pieces of blue calico cloth featuring phoenix patterns, imbuing the cloth with good meaning and showcasing the immense artistic talent of Guan and her children.

The exhibited works are the results of the hard work of four generations of the Guan family and will be displayed in Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, and Tianjin, marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Exhibition goers admire the exhibited blue calico cloth. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

Guan started learning to weave when she was six years old. Influenced by Guan, her son Wu Yuanxin has become a national-level blue calico artist.

The artist has long had a habit of making quiet contributions to the preservation and protection of blue calico making techniques. In the 1990s, when her son decided to establish the first blue calico museum in China, Guan gave all of her savings to build the museum.

Since the museum started operating in 1997, she, despite her poor health, has demonstrated blue calico making techniques, which were once on the verge of disappearing, to visitors over and over again.

Guan's granddaughter, grandson-in-law, and great-granddaughter have joined her in preserving and promoting the ancient craft.

Thanks to their continuous efforts, blue calico printing and dyeing was listed among the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage items in 2006. Wu Xinyuan and his team have rescued and collected over 60,000 pieces of blue calico cloth and sorted out more than 200,000 blue calico patterns. Wu has also cultivated numerous young practitioners of the ancient craft.