When Huizhou Craftsmen Meet the World: Hefei’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Goes Global

From June 4th to 5th, Wang Jun, a representative inheritor of Anhui’s provincial intangible cultural heritage, and Ding Jian, a paper-cutting craftsman, made their debut in Tokyo, Japan, showcasing intangible heritage items such as cheongsams and paper-cuttings for the first time. This event marks Hefei's first official initiative to bring intangible heritage global, offering the world a glimpse of the unique charm of Huizhou culture.

Video produced by Cao Guodong, Han Jie, He Shanshan

At the Tokyo promotion event, Ding Jian not only demonstrated traditional Luyang paper-cutting techniques but also presented paper-cuttings that creatively blended Hefei’s tech landmarks with Japanese architectural icons. Wang Jun's frog buttons and cheongsams captured the audience’s attention. The frog buttons, crafted with exquisite skill, depict the agility and charm of Hefei's "city bird," the magpie. The cheongsam was specially embroidered with Anhui elements such as the Guest-Greeting Pine from Huangshan, which was warmly received by the audience.

As Huizhou craftsmen’s fingertips touched the morning light in Tokyo, intangible heritage was no longer just a museum artifact—it became a flowing cultural poem—planting seeds in foreign soil, allowing craftsmanship to resonate with the times, and enabling tradition to bridge distances. This "dialogue" across mountains and seas, delivered with calm and determination, carries the power of cultural confidence to the world, writing a new chapter in the mutual exchange of civilizations.(Xu Chaozhong, Shu Fang)