Beijing to host biggest intangible cultural heritage exhibit

BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Chinese media) -- China will stage the largest exhibition of

intangible cultural heritage items in its history here from Feb. 9 to 23,

according to the Ministry of Culture.

Feb. 9 marks the Lantern Festival, part of the Lunar New Year occasions,

which has its own set of traditions that will be part of the exhibit.

The event is intended to showcase the progress in protecting intangible

cultural items.

The show will involve activities such as paper-cut paintings, printing,

pottery, carving, tea brewing, embroidery and traditional medicine, an official

of the ministry told Chinese media on Wednesday.

Another key category will be cooking, featuring 230 famous restaurants from

across the country, including Quanjude roast duck.

The show will include 133 items of folk arts and crafts on the list of

state- and province-level intangible heritage items. Fourteen state-level

masters and 130 representative heirs to those arts and crafts will be invited to

give live performances.

In addition, 1,176 folk artists will take part in the show, with 2,322

precious items.

Zhou Heping, vice minister of culture, said, "The show is intended to

showcase the varied and profound traditional Chinese culture and raise public

awareness of cultural heritage protection."

The activity will be jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, the

National Development and Reform Commission, the Beijing municipal government and

14 other organizations related to intangible cultural heritage protection.

In November, the central government said it would give a yearly stipend of

8,000 yuan (about 1,160 U.S. dollars) to hundreds of people designated as heirs

to folk arts, crafts and rituals, many of which are in danger of dying out as

the number of those who know them dwindles.