Visitors are flocking to the 2012 Yuyuan Garden Folk Customs Temple Fair, where they can sample tasty snacks and try their hand at the traditional crafts at the heart of miao hui. Chen Ye joins the fun.

For all the fun of the fair - the temple fair, that is - head along to Shanghai landmark Yuyuan Garden.

Up until next Thursday the Old City tourist attraction is hosting a temple fair - miao hui in Chinese - in its central square, featuring traditional Chinese folk arts and crafts.

Visitors to the 2012 Yuyuan Garden Folk Customs Temple Fair can learn about examples of China's national intangible cultural heritage and sample famous local snacks and other delicious delicacies.

Much of the appeal of Yuyuan Garden is that it epitomizes traditional Chinese style, its ancient buildings transporting people back to a past era amidst the noise and excitement. Traditional features include a giant bamboo basket and huge Chinese Beijing Opera mask in the central square.

Visitors - including many foreigners - throng around the miao hui attractions, taking photographs and striking up conversations with folk artists and trying their hand at learning traditional skills.

Temple fairs can provide foreign residents and visitors with a useful insight into Chinese culture and history - while also having a good time.

But some experts fear the emphasis on traditional crafts is lost on some visitors.

"Most expats living in Shanghai or foreign tourists, they don't have a clear idea about what miao hui really is or what people do there," says Gu Xiaoming, history professor at the Cultural Heritage Protection Department of Fudan University.

"Most of them think it is just a fun fair attracting a bunch of people to celebrate and trade."

History shows that temple fairs originated along with the development of Buddhist and Taoist activities, with miao hui first recorded during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907). In the early years, temple fairs were purely ceremonial rites, though in time, with large numbers of people gathered in one place, trade and socializing became important elements.

To many Chinese people, miao hui is a fun fair where they can socialize and taste yummy delicacies, and also an important local market.

"Miao hui is changing constantly, but the traditional element is often utterly forgotten," Gu told Shanghai Daily.

As a folk custom enthusiast, Gu explained "Now selfish people make miao hui a profitable gathering of street peddlers just interested in making money rather than promoting traditional folk customs."

Gu hopes the 2012 Yuyuan Garden Folk Customs Temple Fair can provide an opportunity for visitors to learn and understand traditional Chinese folk arts and customs while having an enjoyable time.

Nanhui stone teapot carving

For most tea fans, spring is the best season of the year as it brings fresh teas - and a good teapot always makes fresh tea taste better.

Wang Jingen, 76, has spent most of his life making stone carved teapots, a skill recognized as a Shanghai intangible cultural heritage.

"I have created thousands of stone carved teapot, and now most of my work is sold abroad, to the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Germany and other countries," says Wang.

Wang says numerous carving stages are required to define and refine the teapot.

Palm weaving

To most Shanghai locals, palm weaving evokes childhood memories of the palm animals that could be created by a skilled weaver.

The craft involves the folding and weaving palm leaf strips, traditionally associated with the south part of Shanxi Province. However, Xinfan in Sichuan Province has a reputation for the best palm weaving skills.

Historians date the craft back to around 1796, with most production focusing on slippers until 1850, when palm weaving hats became popular.

The industry grew between 1930 and 1940 due to the adoption of new skills - such as see-through weaving and different patterns.

In Yuyuan Garden, people can purchase examples of palm weaving from Chen Jirong, a 35 year old, who has been palm weaving since he was 18.

Puppet show

"Most people think a puppet show is a shadow play show, but it is totally different," says Liu Qianqian, from Fujian Province.

Liu Qianqian and her friend and fellow Fujian native Huang Guiling are staging a puppet show for the 2012 temple fair.

She uses hand puppets, giving the puppeteer direct control. "Usually, we hide from the stage so that the audience can only see our puppet telling a story by moving, dancing, rolling and jumping," says Liu.

Puppet shows were first recorded in China during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). There are two main types of puppet show: marionette - the ti xian - puppets controlled by strings or silk threads; and tuo gun glove puppets, which can be 40 centimeters tall.

Yangzhou woodblock printing

One of two world-class intangible cultural heritage folk arts featured at 2012 Yuyuan Garden Folk Customs Temple Fair, Yangzhou woodblock or engraving printing is the earliest form of printing, recorded in China during the Tang Dynasty.

"We like to call it a living fossil," said Zhao Hongmei, a 33-year-old who has been making prints for more than 10 years.

Yangzhou in Jiangsu Province is known as the cradle of engraving printing. The procedure involves fixing paper with characters or designs to a woodblock which a craftsman uses as a guide to chisel away the block to leave the outline of the shape to be printed.

Zhao welcomes the opportunity to demonstrate this ancient skill to visitors to the temple fair or miao hui.

"I enjoy each time I show engraving printing to an audience, especially foreigners," says Zhao.

"Miao hui provides us with a great chance to let more people understand and cherish this folk art," she adds.

Yangzhou paper cutting

Yangzhou paper cutting is the other world-class intangible cultural heritage folk art at Yuyuan Garden.

Archaeological finds trace the tradition back to the 6th century, and Yangzhou was one of the earliest regions to become renowned for paper cutting in China.

Many people consider paper cutting as simply a window decoration, but Zhao Hongmei, who began the craft when she was a child and is appearing at the miao hui, considers it an art form.

"Paper cutting is an art, which expresses emotion and feeling by using scissors. In fact, some masters of paper don't even use scissors, using only their hands to rip and tear patterns," she says.

According to history, paper cutting became a popular art form in Yangzhou after emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty (AD 581-618) ordered a maid to make paper cuttings to celebrate the coming of spring.

After that, both in Tang (618-907) and Song Dynasty (960-1279), paper cuttings were made to welcome the spring, with red paper favored as this color is believed to bring fortune and good luck.

In addition, paper cutting has been used in ceremonies for the dead. In past times, Chinese people would burn paper cuttings of furniture, vehicles, even the paper likenesses of the deceased's partner to commemorate them, traditions that continue in some remote districts.

Today, paper cuttings are chiefly used as decorations on walls, windows, doors, columns, mirrors and lamps. For newly married couples, red "Double Happiness" - shuang xi in Chinese - paper cutting decorations are hung in the bridal chamber.

Suzhou embroidery

Embroidery, a National intangible cultural heritage, has many fans in Yuyuan Garden. There are four major embroidery styles in China: su xiu (Suzhou Embroidery), xiang xiu (Hunan Embroidery), yue xiu (Guangdong Embroidery) and shu xiu (Sichuan Embroidery)

Su xiu is one of the oldest embroidery techniques in the world, dating back more than 2,000 years.

For many foreign tourists, su xiu is among their top choices of souvenirs, because it is characterized by brightly colored silk embroidered with well-proportioned, uncluttered representations of pastoral and other scenes.

One of the most distinctive features of su xiu is double-sided embroidery, in which the picture can be seen on both sides of the silk.

Shadow play

Shadow play, knows as pi ying xi in Chinese, uses flat articulated shadow puppets to create the impression of moving humans and other three-dimensional objects.

"My husband Zhang Jian and I have been working in shadow play for more than 30 years, and my collection has a relatively high artistic value, combining meticulous cutting techniques with a simple, elegant and vivid image," says shadow play veteran Yin Xiaoling.

Shadow puppets are all handmade, and the character is normally revealed by its color and actions, such as walking, dancing laughing and fighting. Background music is also very important to the show, as it helps create the total atmosphere of the story.

Yin says that more than 20 countries currently have shadow play troupes, and that China has the longest history in the folk art.

A touching story gives an account of how shadow play first appeared. Two thousand years ago, when the favorite concubine of Emperor Hanwu (156-87 BC) died, the emperor was too grief-stricken to take care of the affairs of the country.

The emperor's ministers and advisers were concerned for him. One day, a minister walking in the street saw some teenage boys playing with shadow puppets which looked vivid and lively.

When he returned to the palace, the minister made a shadow puppet that looked exactly like the emperor's favorite imperial concubine. The emperor felt so glad to "see" his wife again he regained interest in the affairs of state.



The Central Square, Yuyuan Garden


How to get there: Metro Line 10 Yu Garden Station

Hours: Until May 24, all day

Ticket: Free


Show List (Features performances are by different artists)

10-10:20am Features performance

10:30-10:40am Puppet show

11-11:20am Features performance

11-11:40am Shadow show

11:30-11:50am Folk art show

12:30-1pm Features performance

1-1:20pm Features performance

1:30-1:50pm Features performance

2-2:10pm Puppet show

2:30-2:50pm Features performance

3-3:10pm Shadow play

3:10-3:30pm Features performance

3:40-3:50pm Puppet show

4-4:10pm Shadow play

4:20-4:30pm Puppet show

4:40-4:50pm Shadow play

5-5:10pm Puppet show

5:20-5:30pm Shadow play

5:40-5:50pm Puppet show

6-6:10pm Shadow play