Oasis of Natural Beauty Opening up to Tourists
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| CHINA DAILY SUPPLEMENT | chinadaily.COM.CN | PAGE S1-4 | Tuesday, November 26, 2019 Oasis of natural Recognition of traditional crafts beauty opening has rural economy all sewn up By YUAN SHENGGAO Zhu Ernu, a 53-year-old Qinghai farm- up to tourists er, was taught traditional embroidery — also known as Qing embroidery — by her mother throughout childhood. Thanks Province boasts ultraclean plateau, to that, she founded her own company. On Aug 30, she was invited to a forum ancient cultural heritage and rich mineral resources on traditional crafts and rural revitaliza- tion as an inheritor of Qing embroidery. By HAO NAN known as one of four ultraclean China’s total and 60 percent glob- The inheritance and innovation of Qing [email protected] areas in the world by UNESCO, ally. The province is also one of embroidery became a major topic of the Wang said. China’s demonstration provinces in event. Northwest China’s Qinghai prov- Qinghai boasts the richest biodi- the clean energy sector. Taking steps to At the forum, Zhu displayed the ince is increasing efforts to allow versity among high-altitude regions Having a mixed culture, such embroidery on her clothes that she made more people from across the world internationally. The total value of as Hehuang and Regong, Qinghai herself. Attendees were amazed at her to learn about its natural beauty the province’s ecological resourc- has developed into an important promote coexistence handicraft and skills. and unique culture. es reaches nearly 19 trillion yuan national ethnic cultural protection Zhu said she didn’t expect that the Qinghai residents promote Tibetan-style blankets. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY The province got its name from ($2.73 trillion), he noted. and tourist destination. “ordinary” skills in her eyes had become Qinghai Lake, China’s largest inland In 2015, Qinghai was approved “We have organized several inter- a representative item of intangible cul- saltwater lake, said Wang Jianjun, to build the Sanjiangyuan National national activities like a cycling race, and social development tural heritage in Qinghai. work for family workshops, embroidery local Party secretary. Park. This made it one of the first a swimming competition across the “Embroiderers like me are riding the companies and art studios. Since ancient times, whenever provinces in China to carry out a pilot Yellow River and a poetry festival. By ZHANG DANDAN wave (of national support for traditional Weaving Tibetan-style blankets is people mention Qinghai Lake they program for the national park sys- They have raised Qinghai’s profile [email protected] crafts),” Zhu said. Besides Zhu, about another intangible cultural heritage item think of “green lake”, “blue sea” or tem. In August this year, the province and expanded its influence,” said 100 other inheritors of Qing embroidery in Qinghai. The province has established “fairyland” due to its picturesque held China’s first forum on national Liu Ning, governor of Qinghai. Paying close attention to local participated in the event. a reputation as a key Tibetan blanket scenery. parks in its capital city, Xining. For years, both the number of ethnic groups’ cultural protection “With the support of the government production center. Riding high on the Qinghai is the source of three of The two-day event attracted more tourists and tourism revenue in and living environment, North- and so many people working hard to Belt and Road Initiative, a growing num- China’s most important rivers: the than 450 representatives of regula- the province have had an annual west China’s Qinghai province develop the embroidery, there is no rea- ber of Qinghai-made Tibetan blankets Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang. The tory agencies, experts and scholars growth rate of 20 percent. has made great strides in pro- son for us not to inherit and practice the are exported to Europe. This helps to first two are known as the mother from home and abroad. They dis- “We will create a series of tour- moting multicultural coexistence skills well,” Zhu said. promote Qinghai’s culture and crafts, rivers of China. The Lancang (or cussed topics including construc- ism activities that will break the and boosting economic and social These achievements can be attrib- Qinghai Daily quoted Ma Xinmin, board Mekong) is one of the most impor- tion and management of nature seasonal restrictions, such as self- development. uted to the province’s efforts to pol- chairman of Qinghai Tibetan Sheep Car- tant water systems in Asia. It flows reserves, biodiversity protection and driving tours, culinary trips and a With ethnic groups making up ish the brand of Qing embroidery, said pets (Group) as saying. through China, Myanmar, Laos, the future of natural heritage sites. journey highlighting folk customs 47 percent of its total population, Lyu Xia, deputy director of the Qinghai Regong in Qinghai is famous for Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam “The success of the forum has and intangible cultural heritage,” Qinghai is a province of multi- Provincial Department of Culture and thangka, a kind of Tibetan scroll paint- before joining the South China Sea. opened a new window for Qinghai Liu added. ethnic gathering, multireligious Tourism. ing, and has made advances in protect- With a total area of 720,000 to connect with the country and the Opening up to the outside world, coexistence and multicultural Lyu said Qing embroidery is an assort- ing its intangible cultural heritage. square kilometers, the province world,” Wang said. Qinghai has formed comprehensive integration. ment of Qinghai and Tibetan embroi- With a total of 330 intangible cultural boasts more than 5,000 lakes and In addition to its natural beauty, road and high-speed rail networks. Therefore, the integrated devel- dery, Huangzhong county embroidery An embroider shows her heritage items, 128 demonstration fami- 4,200 rivers. Annually it supplies the province is home to abundant It also facilitates routes linking sev- opment of all ethnic groups is and Hehuang Valley embroidery. It also Qinghai-style embroidery work. lies, 257 representative inheritors and some 60 billion cubic meters of mineral and energy resources. The en countries and regions, as well as Modern face of Xining, capital of Qinghai province in Northwest China. LI XIAOGANG / FOR CHINA DAILY the cornerstone of the province’s includes traditional embroidery skills PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY 37,000 cultural industry practitioners, freshwater to lower reaches, ben- potential value of proven miner- 107 domestic destinations. economic development and social learned from ethnic groups like Tu, Salar local people have increased efforts in efiting millions of people, data from als, including metal, petroleum and The province has gradually From left: Rural students at school in Banyan village in Qinghai’s Huzhu Tu autonomous county. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Cyclists from China and abroad compete during the Tour of Qinghai Lake 2018. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY stability, according to the local and Mongolian people. commercializing their crafts and engag- the provincial government show. shale gas, now reaches about 105 become a transport hub linking Chi- government. In Qinghai, women used to embroider inheritors of embroidery. There are more ing with industry. Qinghai is located on the “planet’s trillion yuan. The Qarhan Salt Lake na’s east and west, southwest and Statistics of the Qinghai Provin- by hand for their families; from wedding than 50 embroidery enterprises and “Intangible cultural heritage is a sym- third pole” — the Qinghai-Tibet Pla- is the largest of its kind in China northwest. It is also an important Hand-pulled noodles cial Department of Culture and dresses to insoles. The folk art developed organizations. Nearly 300,000 people bol of a nation’s wisdom,” said Shi Xiao- teau. The plateau has the world’s and second-largest in the world, gateway to the South and Central Tourism show that by the end of through a large number of artisans and are engaged in the industry, accounting bo, an official from the Qinghai culture largest stretches of alpine wetlands, with salt reserves of more than 60 Asian countries, Liu said. 2018, the province had six items has witnessed a close cultural bond with for 5 percent of the province’s popula- and tourism department. grasslands, shrubs, forests and oth- billion metric tons. As for international relations, and Tibetan medicine listed among intangible cultur- local ethnic groups. The embroiders use tion. In the future, the province will launch er ecosystems. Green and blue space Moreover, Qinghai’s proven lith- Qinghai has 182 trading partners al heritage of humanity, and 73 their skillful hands to carry forward the According to the Qinghai culture more projects to protect heritage items. accounts for more than 70 percent ium reserves reach 17.24 million and friendship ties with 20 cities national-level and 253 provincial- ancient art. and tourism department, embroidery Such projects include establishing the of the total area. The plateau was tons, accounting for 83 percent of from 17 countries, Wang said. level intangible cultural heritage At present, the province has 12 catego- has become an important channel for intangible cultural heritage list, increas- helping Qinghai win items. ries of intangible cultural heritage proj- women in rural areas to make a living. ing the group of inheritors and making a As the only province nation- ects in embroidery and 19 representative Instead of working individually, they digital record of the items, Shi said. GDP ROBUST GROWTH OVER THE Per capita GDP Unit: million yuan Unit: yuan fight against poverty wide with three national-level PAST DECADES experimental areas of cultural ecology protection so far, Qing- Economic boom hai has taken the lead in protect- By LIANG KAIYAN in the village over the past two ing local culture, according to an Number of 417,800 [email protected] years, he added.