Exhibition of Tianjin's cultural heritage

A Tianjin kite maker exhibits his kite at an exhibition in London on Aug 17, 2017. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The British public will get a glimpse of a large collection of China's century-old traditional crafts from Tianjin, a Chinese port rich in cultural heritage.

The Tianjjin Intangible Culture Heritage Association brought colorful hand-mades kite, tea sets, jade decoration, pearl jewelry, paintings, fans, special paper-made umbrellas and other things to China Exchange in London's Chinatown.

Li Zhibang, chairman of Tianjin Intangible Heritage Protection Association said: "Tianjin's history as an important port city means it has gathered extensive cultural influence from all over the world, and these cultural influences became a part of our heritage, which we treasure and do our best to preserve."

"These craft items' exhibition in the UK comes at an important time, as we are celebrating the 45th anniversary of ambassadorial diplomatic relations between the two countries this year. Going forward, cultural exchanges will be a big part of our bilateral relations," said Li.

Skills are classified as intangible cultural heritage if the craftsmanship is passed down over generations and they are part of an area's cultural diversity. Tianjin has a total of 237 intangible cultural heritage items, and 33 of them are classified as national level intangible cultural heritage items.

After Thursday's exhibition at London Chinatown's China Exchange, the items will again be exhibited at London's Leicester Square. The crafts will be shown in Edinburgh on August 21st. Most of the crafts belong to privately-run Tianjin-based companies, who also have their own design and manufacturing studios.

After the UK exhibition, the association will again organize the crafts makers to showcase their works in countries along the Belt and Road routes from next year onward.

Cindy Yang, general manager of Time Memory, a Tianjin-based company which is also a key sponsor for the event, said: "We hope these overseas tours will help Tianjin heritage brands to find international commercial partnership opportunities. The overseas exhibitions can also help our brands' designers to draw inspirations from overseas culture, so they can make their products more international."

Yang's comments are echoed by Dong Jianshe, general manager of Tianjin Laomeihua Shoe and Dress Co, a 109-year-old Tianjin company specializing in fashion, such as shoes with intricately hand-embroidered decoration patterns, and colourfully threaded buttons.

"Coming to London and looking at British fashion actually provided me with lots of inspirations, which I will incorporate into our products in the future," said Dong.

Contact the writer at Cecily.liu@mail.chinadailyuk.com