Stepping into the ancient arts

As the summer vacation drew to a close, venues for intangible cultural heritage across the country launched a series of diverse traditional culture promotion activities, giving young visitors a chance to experience the charm of ICH through immersive participation.

At the China Traditional Culture Museum in Beijing, Xi'an drum music, which originated in the Sui and Tang dynasties (581-907), drew crowds with its graceful and ancient melodies. Following the performance, experts guided the children in hands-on sessions with traditional musical instruments, offering in-depth insights into the enduring appeal of Chinese music.

Since the start of the summer vacation, many venues have rolled out cultural promotion activities such as "Meet the Intangible Cultural Heritage" and ICH classes. Specialized items, including guqin (a seven-stringed zither) and Kunqu Opera, enriched the holiday. According to China Central Television, the China Traditional Culture Museum alone hosted nearly 500 events this summer, with a daily average attendance surpassing 13,000.

In Hunan province, the Hunan Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center launched a hands-on program, covering more than 10 traditional local handicrafts, such as paper-cutting and dough figurine making. All 45 sessions were fully booked. During a ceramics workshop on Changsha kiln tradition, children engaged with this ancient craft under the guidance of skilled inheritors.

At the Zhejiang Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum, young participants wearing aprons attentively learned the indigo blue printing and dyeing technique from inheritors. Due to variations in tying, each piece of tie-dye work became a unique artwork. The museum organized 90 such exhibitions, demonstrations and hands-on activities over the summer vacation, attracting more than 5,500 visitors daily on average.

The summer cultural and tourism consumption market has delivered impressive results. According to a cultural tourism report released by short-video platform Douyin recently, cultural consumption upgrades were notable in the summer tourism market. Between June 15 and Aug 15, content related to ICH tours on Douyin increased by 121 percent year-on-year, and orders for ICH-related hotel and tour packages surged by 327 percent month-on-month.