Showing off in Shanxi

Two clay sculptures made by folk artisans at the First Shanxi Cultural Industries Fair attract the attention of a young visitor. Wei Xiaohao / China Caily

Tradition and culture were the main attractions recently at the ancient city of Taiyuan. Chen Liang and Sun Ruisheng tell us which were the main acts.

There were contemporary dancers and pop singers performing onstage. Opera artistes were showing off their exquisite make-up and costumes. Musicians attracted crowds with their skill on traditional instruments, such as the pipa and erhu.

In spite of the clamor caused by these shows and their audiences, there were also craftsmen concentrating on making paper-cuts, New Year woodblock prints, or paper-making for Chinese painting and calligraphy, stitching soles of handmade cloth shoes, embroidering, building "toy bricks" (miniature wooden bracket sets of the Song Dynasty (967-1279) style), and even brewing vinegar — all at the same place.

This was the First Shanxi Cultural Industries Fair held at the Coal Trade Center in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, from June 29 to July 3.

Local opera artistes entertain visitors. Wei Xiaohao / China Caily

Organized mainly by the Shanxi Provincial Publicity Department and Taiyuan municipal government, the fair attracted 900 cultural enterprises locally and more than 200 from other provinces, autonomous regions, Hong Kong and Macao. Some foreign countries also participated the event.

All in all, more than 10,000 cultural products were gathered at the fair.

Many from Shanxi are actually private-owned businesses run by folk artisans. Some of them are the province's intangible cultural heritage inheritors.

These folk artists and craftsmen showed off their crafts and products at the packed exhibition center. For many of them, this was also a rare opportunity to present their crafts to the outside world.