February 2024

During the Spring Festival, the bustling and lively Hedong District of Linyi City is crowded with people. The rural dramas are being sung, and the traditional Yangge dancers are happily preforming with gongs and drums around the scenic spots and markets. “Every house hangs red lanterns and posts Spring Festival couplets. Every village offers a good show. So go back to the hometown to celebrate the New Year!” During the 2024 New Year time, Shandong Rural Culture Tourism Festival is lasting until the beginning of the lunar February. The festival is focusing on organizing the New Year’s goods fair, village…

Whirring and squeaking, the big windmill is singing. Together with the sky and the soil, oh, how beautiful! Together with the little buddies, oh, the happy buddies! Hao’s windmill in Pingyi County, Linyi City of Shandong Province, embodies the ancient skills passed down generation after generation. Each windmill requires more than 30 steps to finish, including cutting, coloring, drying, bundling, bonding, polishing, drilling, assembling, and packaging before completion. It is a municipal intangible cultural heritage. Family Hao’s business could be traced back to the Daoguang period (1782-1850) of the Qing Dynasty. At that time, Hao’s ancestor Dongye Gaosheng learned the…

Entering the Year of the Dragon, the inheritors of the local intangible cultural heritage from Junan County in Shandong Province begin to display their skills and talents, creating festive and popular products with dragon as the main element. Starting this January, Mr. Ding Dawei, the inheritor of Gaoyu wood comb in Junan County, began to receive customized patterns for making the samples. From receiving orders to the completion of the produces, he worked for more than half a month in order to complete a thousand customized combs for a Xiamen customer.  Right after the combs were packaged and shipped out, he…

“The temple fair is beautiful, and the dragon-lion performances are fabulous! A great time for both adults and children!” Ms. Wang, a tourist from Jiangsu Province, said cheerfully at the trendy garden party in Zhuquan Village, Yinan County of Linyi City, Shandong Province. She was taking photos in front of the lion dance performance with the majestic sounds of gongs and drums. Yinan County launched a variety of folk performances during the Spring Festival 2024, including dragon and lion dances, Han fashion costumes shows, intangible cultural heritage events and more in its scenic spots and urban areas. There were more…