Best Traditional Chinese Papercutting Jianzhi Craft Tour Destinations
Browse more guides: China travel | Asia destinations Best Traditional Chinese Papercutting Jianzhi Craft Tour Destinations TL;DR Chinese papercutting ( jianzhi , 剪纸) is one of the world's oldest and most geographically widespread paper-craft traditions, with major regional schools across Shaanxi (rural village heritage, possibly the deepest tradition), Yangzhou (Jiangsu, urban-elegant style), Foshan (Guangdong, southern Chinese style), and various others. Plan ten days for a single-region focus; Xi'an is a useful base for Shaanxi rural travel. The art is UNESCO-listed (Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, 2009). This is a craft where the tourist version (commercial papercut souvenirs sold in cities) often differs substantially from the village-tradition heritage where individual master papercutters work for personal/ritual contexts. The deeper tradition lives in rural Shaanxi villages and a few other heartland regions. Background Chinese papercu...