SHANGHAI’S Putuo District is using digital technologies to spearhead a unique cultural revival.

Putuo, known for its rich historical and cultural legacy, is home to an abundance of intangible cultural heritage items.

Modern tools and innovative ideas are rejuvenating these treasures that have been passed down through generations.

The district’s efforts not only maintain but also revitalize these traditions, making them relevant in today’s world.

Putuo has a considerable number of intangible cultural heritage projects. To date, the district has one national project, nine city-level projects and 24 district-level projects, totaling 34 recognized items.

There are also nine city-level representative inheritors and 30 district-level representative inheritors, for a total of 39 people dedicated to preserving and promoting these cultural treasures.

Putuo’s approach centers on the desire to innovate while maintaining tradition. As digital information technology advances, new ways of expressing and sharing intangible cultural assets arise, hastening the growth of cultural productivity.

The district has taken the initiative in this regard, investigating novel heritage preservation methods, updating traditional artisan practices and encouraging high-quality cultural productivity.

These endeavors try to revive old crafts in the modern era.

Bamboo silk weaving

The Shanghai Yizhuxing Public Welfare Promotion Center, located in M50 Creative Park along Suzhou Creek, is an excellent example of this unique technique.

Intricately crafted bamboo artworks are on display, attracting a large number of tourists who want to experience bamboo weaving firsthand.

Bamboo weaving, an ancient craft with strong roots in Chinese culture, is an important part of Putuo’s tradition.

Cheng Li, a master of bamboo silk weaving and founder of the center, hails from China’s southwest Sichuan Province, a region renowned for its bamboo weaving.

Cheng was born in Meishan, a small city south of Chengdu and also the hometown of Su Dongpo, a great literary figure of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) in China, where generations of people have passed down bamboo-weaving crafts. Those who live in suburban areas especially look at it as a family business besides agriculture.

Cheng has been exposed to bamboo weaving techniques since childhood, and as she grew older, she learned bamboo weaving from her elder generation.

The first thing she learned was to deal with bamboo. She had to do more than 10 procedures, such as scraping, splitting, coating, knot removing, layering and color fixation, to make the bamboo into filaments as thin as hair. She often cut her fingers. The process was just too difficult and boring for a young child.

Having learned the craft from her family, she now focuses on creating bamboo silk paintings and bamboo porcelain weaving.

Cheng’s exhibition hall in Putuo showcases Buddha images woven from thin bamboo silk, portraying sacred and serene figures that bring a sense of peace and wisdom to viewers.

“These artworks leverage the natural beauty of bamboo, elevating its artistic value,” Cheng explained. Her creations have won multiple awards and are collected by institutions and private collectors both domestically and internationally.

Visitors to the center can participate in bamboo weaving workshops, guided by skilled instructors.

A section of the center serves as a public sales zone for handicrafts made by physically challenged people. It is also a national cultural and creative production base for people with disabilities, recognized by the China Disabled Persons’ Federation and the All-China Women’s Federation as one of the first “Beautiful Workshops” practice bases.

For 14 years, Cheng has taught bamboo weaving to people with disabilities for free and sold their works in her studio.

“Teaching people with disabilities to learn a skill and make a living with it is very meaningful to me,” Cheng said.

Her initiative combines heritage preservation and social welfare, injecting new life into the tradition by involving a new generation of artisans.

For people with disabilities, Yizhuxing offers bamboo weaving training and home-based employment opportunities. By 2024, Cheng had trained over 300 individuals with disabilities.

In 2023, Xu Cuiyan, one of Cheng’s apprentices and a skilled national craftsman, collaborated with an international fashion brand to bring bamboo weaving into the Paris Fashion Week.

The success of intangible cultural heritage preservation relies heavily on its inheritors. In Putuo, generations of heritage bearers have preserved the cultural “roots and soul,” according to the district government.

More young people are now joining the ranks of heritage preservation, moving beyond traditional family-based transmission methods.

Statistics show that around 60 percent of intangible cultural heritage projects now have inheritors selected through social means, reflecting a shift towards a new state where professional and social transmission methods blend.

At the 6th China International Import Expo, Cheng’s bamboo silk weaving workshop attracted numerous international media journalists.

They listened to stories about bamboo weaving, learned about the bamboo silk production process, appreciated exquisite bamboo artworks, and tried their hand at bamboo porcelain weaving.

“The growing public interest in bamboo silk weaving reflects a continuous appreciation for traditional Chinese culture and aesthetics,” Cheng said.

She also prepared bamboo brooches as souvenirs, symbolizing “confidence and resilience,” to give to visitors from around the world, showcasing the craftsmanship and unique charm of Putuo’s intangible cultural heritage.

Wheat straw painting

Wheat straw painting is another notable intangible cultural heritage project in Putuo, with Yao Yijia serving as the sole representative inheritor.

Her passion in wheat straw painting began in high school when she visited a friend of her mother’s who was an expert at the skill. Yao was astounded by the delicacy of his artwork, which dated back to the Sui (AD 581-618) and Tang (AD 618-907) dynasties.

The skill includes creating elaborate artworks out of wheat straw. Making a straw painting is a time-consuming and complicated task. The process begins with designing and collecting straw. The stalks are then sliced, soaked in water, scraped to remove the interior fibers, ironed, trimmed and then pasted onto the pattern.

Yao’s famous piece, “Harvest Blessings,” took nearly a year to finish. It includes a rooster with wheat straw feathers in a variety of hues and detailed detailing.

Another piece, “Companionship,” shows two lifelike tigers with tens of millions of straw threads precisely glued into place.

Wheat straw art has a history of more than 1,400 years. It was brought to Shanghai by folk artists from nearby Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Artists in Zhenru, Putuo, have merged local painting techniques into wheat straw art over time, earning it the label of “a unique Chinese folk art” from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Yao, who studied fashion design at Donghua University, later apprenticed in Suzhou and learned embroidery. In 2018, she founded the Zhenru Wheat Straw Art Studios.

Yao bravely integrated her expertise of many techniques, such as wood inlay, velvet embroidered, hair embroidery and wheat straw art, to develop a new form known as wheat straw embroidery.

The new technique combines the meticulousness of stitching with the rustic appeal of wheat straw, creating a unique artistic expression.

“Many people think wheat straw art is simple, not realizing the labor-intensive processes involved,” Yao said.

To finish a piece, wheat straw must go through several procedures, including smoking, steaming, bleaching, scraping, flattening and ironing, until it is thin enough to look through a book page, Yao said.

These fine straws are then employed as embroidery threads, resulting in lifelike images. Any mistake, such as using too much adhesive or misplacing a straw, can mean starting again from scratch.

Because of this complexity, Yao has made fewer than 30 pieces.

Zhenru wheat straw painting was featured at the Brussels Comic Strip Festival in 2023.

After learning about the cultural significance and production process, the visitors were impressed by this traditional Chinese craft.

Yao’s team now delivers cultural products to the Brussels Museum regularly, including a line of Dunhuang-themed fans that sold out immediately.

“Many foreign friends find it fascinating, as it’s their first encounter with such art,” Yao said.

Putuo’s efforts to develop intangible cultural heritage are proving fruitful.By combining history and innovation, the district allows these traditional crafts to thrive in a modern setting.

According to the district government, artists such as Cheng and Yao ensure that these traditions not only survive but also flourish, garnering international acclaim and enriching cultural diversity.