Fanning the love of Chinese art
Tuanshan is a handicraft that embraces tradition and innovation, Alexis Hooi and Zhang Li report in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.
Similarly, sustainable, green practices are a priority, he says, especially since his creations rely on natural bamboo as a major material.
"We minimize our waste and discard as little as possible," Huang Shuofu says. "I recycle the bamboo strips, cloth and paper and try to find new ways to use them, such as for bookmarks, stationery and other smaller-sized, related products."
In line with sustainable, inclusive development, tuanshan production cooperates with local rural communities.
For villager Zheng Ming, harvesting bamboo through cooperatives and other production channels to provide the raw material for Huang Shuofu's fans in the past three decades has helped improve his family's previous subsistence livelihood in line with rural revitalization.
"We help provide 600,000 to 700,000 pieces of bamboo every year and our income has increased significantly, three to four times higher than before," says Zheng, in his 70s.
"We make our tuanshan by blending tradition and innovation, protecting our heritage, and promoting it together," Huang Shuofu says.
