3rd Hunan intangible cultural heritage shopping festival launched

The 3rd Hunan Intangible Cultural Heritage Shopping Festival was launched on June 1 at the Hunan Intangible Cultural Heritage Hall in Yuhua District, Changsha. It is part of the Hunan Intangible Cultural Heritage Promotion and Exhibition Event of the 2022 Cultural and Natural Heritage Day.

Nearly 100 intangible cultural heritage items from Hunan’s 13 cities and one prefecture were promoted via livestreaming, presenting traditional food, traditional handicrafts and other intangible cultural heritage resources to the public.

The shopping festival lasts for 5 days. Intangible cultural heritage-related workshops and enterprises publicize and display intangible cultural heritage items through online and offline methods. Yang Jie, head of JD.com Hunan Intangible Cultural Heritage Mall, introduced that since 2020, Hunan has built an online platform and launched more than 200 intangible cultural heritage products. Cultural creative bags made of Dong brocade, a national intangible cultural heritage item, are very popular among consumers.

A livestreaming channel is opened during the festival, with livestreaming events held every night. "We have prepared a variety of intangible cultural heritage products such as Hunan embroidery, underglaze cups, and bamboo weaving, and invited intangible cultural heritage inheritors and cultural departments staff to serve as livestreamers," said Yang Jie.

The main venue is located in the Hunan Intangible Cultural Heritage Hall in Yuhua District. Yuhua District will offer intangible cultural heritage coupons worth 75,000 yuan. After the launching ceremony, 309 online and offline activities will be held across the province to promote the development of intangible cultural heritage.

Last year, Hunan had 19 items included in the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage items, including Laosicheng Site legend, Jiahe Banjia Song (songs sung on the occasion of daughters getting married), Wujiaquan (a rare Chinese internal martial art), Yanyingquan (a martial art), and techniques of making Junshan silver needle tea. So far Hunan has 137 national intangible cultural heritage items, 410 provincial intangible cultural heritage items, and 166 intangible cultural heritage workshops. Such evaluation indicators as quantity and marketization are higher than the national average.