​Baitansi Village， Xiqing： Culture Permeates the Village， Light Hand Creates Wealth

”In recent years， with culture as its soul， Xiqing District， Tianjin has been deeply exploring and inheriting the links between folk intangible cultural heritage and villages．” Yang Runde， the vice director of the Xiqing District Agriculture and Rural Affair Committee said． As a result， Baitansi Village has achieved the effective transformation of cultural effect to social and economic benefits． The village collective has also mobilized”villagers to work with the cooperative” based on households to increase incomes by learning and making intangible cultural heritage handicrafts．

The Inheritor of Leaf Carving Intangible Cultural Heritage Liu Xuehui Makes A Leaf Carving

It is reported that Baitansi Village has built a traditional culture research base for villagers to make intangible cultural heritage handicrafts， where works such as leaf carvings and famille－rose porcelain can be appreciated． Across from the base， in the workshop of Wang Zuobin， the executive director of Yudu Ceramic Technology Co．， Ltd． and inheritor of famille－rose porcelain intangible cultural heritage， over 10 villagers are making famille－rose porcelain costing several thousand yuan． This small workshop creates an annual output value of nearly 10 million yuan．

Intangible Cultural Heritage Boosts Revitalization， Light Hand Brings Bright Future

”This exquisite bottle is a snuff bottle， which shows the unique Chinese intangible cultural heritage － the art of inside painting．” Wang Xinnian， a master of industrial art and inheritor of intangible cultural heritage in Tianjin， said to visitors at the traditional culture research base．”Its mouth is only as big as a bean， and its inside is frosted． We can only see a part of shadow after inserting the paintbrush and must draw reversely on its inner wall． The drawing skill is evident under the magnifying glass．” Then Wang Xinnian showed a snuff bottle painted with a tiger on the spot． Under the magnifying glass， the tiger has fur with natural stripes， clear and vivid whiskers and eyes outlined with multi－color paints．

The inheritor of leaf carving intangible cultural heritage Liu Xuehui is introducing this country’s art to visitors

On the other side of the display table， Liu Xuehui， the inheritor of leaf carving intangible cultural heritage is introducing this country’s art to visitors．”After picking up a poplar leaf or magnolia leaf， I clean， disinfect and steam it first． All operations are conducted in water． After removing the mesophyll with tools， the left leaf veins will be created into a piece of artistic work by means of its natural imperfections．” At the scene， rural landscapes， agricultural scenes and the like are carved on small leaves．

The person in charge of the research base said，”Over 20 intangible cultural heritage techniques， including painted porcelain， leaf painting， and stereoscopic sugar painting， can be experienced here． In traditional ethnic festivals and important celebrations， the base’s cultural activities are also popular with visitors and villagers．”

Exhibits of Famille－rose Porcelain， the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Xiqing District

Talents Take Root in Hometown， Small Hearts Harbor A Dream

By virtue of traditional folk art， Baitansi villagers increase their incomes and get rich． Founded in the 1990s， Yudu Ceramic Technology Co．， Ltd． was developed from a small workshop with two or three employees to a high－quality village enterprise that covers an area of over 800 square meters， and has over 20 workshops and over 20 employees．”At the 2010 Tianjin Summer Davos Forum， our’Yu Hu Chun Vase with Chinese Herbaceous Peony and Chicken’ was presented as a designated gift to Chinese and foreign guests．” Wang Zuobin said．”At that time， over 10 companies competed for it． We were the first to make a sample and also pushed the making technique of famille－rose porcelain to go abroad and be seen and appreciated by the world．”

Exhibits of Famille－rose Porcelain， the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Xiqing District

When mentioning porcelain making technique， the villager Hao Hongyu said，”I earn money while learning the skills． I’ve been working for 6 years and paid 5，000 to 6，000 yuan every month． I’m very happy．” Wang Zuobin said that there are over 10 villagers who earn money while learning skills like Hao Hongyu． They are enjoying the new life brought by rural revitalization．

Li Feng， the first secretary resident in the village， is confident of the future development of Baitansi Village．”We aim to build Baitansi Village into a model of modern metropolitan rural revitalization in Tianjin．”

（圖文/王錦錕、徐斌 翻譯/張譯）