Handcrafted porcelain flowers showcase traditional Chinese intangible cultural heritage. Photo: Courtesy of FlowerStory
The 2025 Spring Festival will be the first since the traditional Chinese holiday was added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2024, shining a spotlight on a rich array of traditional Chinese customs and creative cultural products.
Traditional Chinese intangible cultural heritage crafts, including paper-cutting, cloisonne, and handmade porcelain flowers, have sparked a dynamic economic wave tied to China's cultural legacy.
"With the Spring Festival approaching, our daily sales have risen roughly 300 percent since December, selling 300 to 500 units daily, priced between 300 yuan ($42.25) and 600 yuan," said Xu Zhenwei, spokesperson for FlowerStory, a supplier of handcrafted porcelain flower products located in Dehua, East China's Fujian Province.
"Each porcelain flower is carefully crafted by artisans, leading to limited production," Xu told the Global Times on Sunday.
These everlasting blooms, handcrafted porcelain flowers created by intangible cultural heritage artisans, originate in Dehua, China's historic "porcelain capital." They represent China's rich intangible cultural heritage and the distinctive economic opportunities it generates.
"The creation of China's intangible cultural heritage of handmade porcelain flowers involves a complex process demanding exceptional craftsmanship and dedication," Xu explained. "The production requires eight precise steps, with each flower comprising 50 to 150 carefully crafted ceramic petals. This level of craftsmanship demands extraordinary skill, and currently, fewer than 30 artisans in our region can master it," Xu said.
Handcrafted porcelain flowers showcase traditional Chinese intangible cultural heritage. Photo: Courtesy of FlowerStory
Meanwhile, well-known traditional Chinese Spring Festival intangible cultural heritage products, such as window papercuts and other decorations, are gaining increasing attention. Consumers are showing heightened interest, both in learning these traditional crafts and buying the finished products.
"During peak times leading up to the Spring Festival, I receive up to five or six customized orders daily," Liu Jie, an independent artisan specializing in intangible cultural heritage paper-cutting for the past five years from central China's Hunan Province, told the Global Times on Sunday. "My creations focus on originality, with prices determined by design complexity and size, typically starting at 368 yuan, and some pieces priced over 1,000 yuan."
Liu shared that she has observed increasing appreciation for traditional culture among her customers, accompanied by growing cultural confidence, especially toward intangible cultural heritage. "This is a great opportunity, not only for the economic impact of intangible heritage products but also for promoting the culture itself," she said.
She added that her primary learners include young teachers, freelancers, and mothers. They study sketching and cutting, which are fundamental skills for producing high-quality paper-cutting creations.
China's intangible cultural heritage spans across its provinces, with provincial museums showcasing these heritage products reflecting the growing consumer interest.
"Since December, foot traffic to our store has significantly increased, with 300 to 400 customers visiting daily. Refrigerator magnets have emerged as the most popular item," Qiu Yidan, a representative from Grain Rain Story, a cultural creative store specializing in intangible cultural heritage at the Zhejiang Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Liu Jie, an independent artisan from Hunan Province, has just completed a pair of Snake Year-themed Spring Festival paper-cuttings, highlighting the artistry of intangible cultural heritage paper-cutting. Photo: Chen Qingrui/GT
The store collaborates with approximately 20 artisans skilled in traditional crafts. Most of the store's products, including copperware, ceramics, embroidery, Zisha teapots, and bamboo weaving, are meticulously handcrafted by these artisans, Qiu said. "By integrating intangible cultural heritage elements—such as the 12-animal Zodiac, the 24 solar terms, and Chinese folklore—into our designs, we offer consumers unique and creative cultural products," the store showed.
The Chinese government has also placed great importance on the debut of the first "intangible cultural heritage Spring Festival," and has actively organized events to sustain and enhance this cultural and economic momentum.
The department of intangible cultural heritage under China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism has planned nearly 7,000 activities across the country centered on preserving, practising, and promoting intangible cultural heritage, People.cn reported on Wednesday.
China currently hosts nearly 870,000 intangible cultural heritage resources, with over 100,000 representative projects officially recognized at national, provincial, municipal, and county levels, the Xinhua News Agency reported.