Zhong Xiaobo, director of the Wenzhou Covered Bridge Culture Society in Zhejiang province, who has devoted over two decades to preserving wooden arch bridges, expressed immense excitement upon hearing the news.
He said that since around 2004, when these bridges were on the brink of extinction, the local people initiated efforts in Taishun county, Zhejiang, to rediscover and support inheritors in revitalizing this craft."This recognition validates our years of hard work," Zhong added.
The wooden arch bridges are mainly found in northern Fujian and southern Zhejiang. Built out of interlocking short beams with wooden sunmao (mortise-and-tenon) joints to create an especially stable arch without nails or rivets, these bridges are the crystallization of the wisdom of people in the mountainous areas of the two provinces, said Lu Zeqi, an expert in cultural heritage in Pingnan county, Fujian, where such bridges are often seen.
The Qiang New Year festival, celebrated in Sichuan province, often takes place on the first day of the tenth lunar month, during which Qiang people gather to hold ceremonies, pay tribute to deities, celebrate the harvest and pray for blessings in festive attire.
In 2008, when the devastating 8.0-magnitude Wenchuan earthquake hit many places where Qiang people live in Sichuan, quite a number of Qiang villages were destroyed and many inheritors passed away, putting at grave risk the tradition, which is only passed on by word of mouth and face-to-face teaching.
Since then, governments at all levels have issued policies and regulations to protect and popularize the festival, while traditional Qiang villages have been restored and their infrastructure has improved.
