Shining a light on Chinese culture

At the event, athletes, officials and media personnel handcrafted tangyuan — glutinous rice balls, symbolic of reunion — and engaged in lantern riddles, experiencing the traditional charm of Lantern Festival.

Visitors also lingered at the intangible cultural heritage exhibition area, gaining insights into traditional Chinese arts such as calligraphy, fish skin painting, lacquerware and lantern making, appreciating the profound depth, richness and artistic allure of Chinese culture.

"I dived deep into Chinese culture,"said Enkhzaya Ganbat, a member of the Mongolia National Curling Team.

"I am expecting to make a lantern, and will take it back home after the Games finish."

During the traditional dance performances, the beat of the drum dance intertwined with the lively rhythms of Northeast yangko, prompted many of the visitors to join in, creating a vibrant atmosphere.

From Feb 5 to 14, the intangible cultural heritage exhibition, centered around the theme "Dream of Winter, Love among Asia", took place at four non-competition venues, hotels and the main press center.

The event brought together several distinctive national intangible heritage projects, such as wheat-straw painting and Fangzheng paper-cutting, as well as provincial intangible heritage projects such as gold lacquer inlay and Ewenki birch bark pyrography.

With a history dating back 8,000 years, the gold lacquer inlay is an important category of traditional Chinese lacquerware.

"The combination of gold lacquer and inlay techniques holds deep historical value, elegant artistic value, extensive practical value, and precious collectible value," said Xia Lijun, a provincial-level inheritor of the skill. "I took over 80 pieces of work to the event, including gold lacquer inlay paintings and items, as well as related cultural and creative products, attracting great attention from the visitors."

"At my booth, I taught the athletes and officials from various countries and regions to make fans with the floating lacquer skill — placing lacquer of various colors in water and gently stirring it, then slowly dipping a fan into the water, allowing the lacquer to adhere to the surface, creating exquisite artistic effects," he said. "The process of creating a lacquer fan takes around three minutes, after which it can be taken away for later use once the surface is dry."

"Officials from Saudi Arabia and Iran expressed their intention to invite me to show my skills in their countries, which made me feel quite honored that I may have the chance to spread Chinese culture to other parts of the world."

The event seamlessly integrated ancient intangible heritage with the Games, and enriched them with a strong cultural ambiance.

"The event, with its diverse displays and content, exciting interactive activities, and innovative integration of intangible heritage with contemporary needs, added a splendid touch to the Games," said Wang Di, deputy director of Harbin Mass Art Center.

"By incorporating intangible cultural heritage into modern sports events like the Asian Winter Games, the event will provide an opportunity for China's outstanding traditional culture to step onto the world stage, engaging in broader exchanges and mutual learning with cultures from around the world."