Adheringto inheritance and protection, Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi Province, alsocreatively develops the provincial intangible cultural heritage--Chengnandragon lanterns,which are exported to overseas markets,polishing the culturalcard of Jiangxi.

These days,the dragon lanterns base in QingYunpu District, Chengnan Village, is busy with production.The producing department orderly stacks completed production of dragon’s head, body and tail.Liu Jiapo, the crafts woman is rushing out dragon lanterns overtime:“I specializein making tail of dragon. The factory is getting stronger and larger,  the division of labor is clear and the working speed is at least 10 times faster."

As an experienced employee for over 30years, Liu Jiapo has seen the whole development history of Chengnan dragonlanterns. The aged woman speaks of the hardships in early years with deepemotion:”We got into a touch situation in early years. A person had to work fora month or more than 20 days.All were handmade and the tail was sewn one byone."

Torealize the expansion of industrialization and with a large-scale,Chengnandragon lanterns have pursued innovative production techniques ceaselessly sincethe 1980s,from the extensive processing to the professional operation, includingmolds, bamboo weaving, cutting, sewing and so on. The beautiful and practicalproducts also were favored by numerous customers and quickly occupied thedomestic market. Shi Kebin, the inheritor of Chengnan dragon lanterns says thatnow they have more than 50 people with a large scale of production and canproduce more than 5000 dragons a year.

After more than ten years of development,Chengnan dragon lanterns are expanding constantly. The delicate products sellwell all over the world. To extend the folk arts to the world, Chengnan dragonlanterns further promote business via the Internet. The products locate inFrance, Germany, Australia and other countries in succession. Shi Kebin says:"Our dragon lanterns start early, perhaps at the beginning of 2000, soforeign clients  can find here throughthe website."

To keep a foothold in the overseasmarkets, Chengnan dragon lanterns offer innovative services for some foreignerswho cannot perform. they provide customers with free manuals, detailedlyintroducing the steps and installations. Besides, they save the cost throughimproving the mode of transportation. Shi Kebin says: "now it isconvenient to use a small carton to mail in account of a large number ofdragons sent abroad."

Presently, Chengnan dragon lanterns can beseen everywhere, such as the United States, the Czech Republic, Egypt and otherregions and countries, becoming one of the world intangible cultural heritage representatives of Nanchang city。

Time:2015-10-19

Source:www.cnr.cn