​Huaxi district boosts its traditional handicrafts

Kids and their moms learn about handicrafts in the Xiuhuaxi Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum, in Huaxi district. [Photo/Guiyang news network]

The Huaxi district of Guiyang, capital city of Southwest China's Guizhou province, has boosted the development of its intangible cultural heritage projects and its professional skilled artisans in recent years, realizing the mutual transformation of cultural value and economic benefits.

One example is the Xiuhuaxi Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum, located in the district's Banqiao Art Village which combines visitor experiences with handicraft designs, production and sales.

Through on-site teaching of embroidery, batik and paper-cutting, visitors, craftspeople and young people can learn and understand handicraft techniques there. This has helped local traditional crafts, skills and folk culture to be passed down for more generations. 

In addition, the museum has been home to 24 culturally creative businesses, incubated four handicraft enterprises and developed over 50 types of products related to the embroidery of the local Miao ethnic group. What's more, it has received more than 8,000 visits by tourists since opening in June 2021, boosting the local intangible cultural heritage industry.

So far, Huaxi has 58 registered intangible cultural heritage items, including two at the national level and 13 at the provincial level, as well as 54 craftspeople engaged in intangible cultural heritage protection and promotion. In the process, it has established a conservation system and a dedicated team of people focused on intangible cultural heritage items.