Huizhou Culture Experience

Inkstick is one of China's Scholar's Four Jewels with brushe, paper and inkstone. Huizhou Inkstick has long enjoyed a high reputation since Tang Dynasty (618 ~ 907). Hu Kaiwen Inkstick Factory – a time-honored factory to produce Chinese inkstick, still keeps its traditional manufacturing methods to produce Huizhou Inkstick. Visiting this factory, you can not only admire the procedure of making inkstick but also experience it in person.

There will be an experienced teacher instructing you to complete inkstick. You will mix the materials together and pound them with a pestle first, and then press the inksticks into the wooden mould. Then you can print your handprint on the inkstick as a memorial. After your inkstick is finished, you can take them home.

As one of China's traditional folk art, paper cutting can trace back to Eastern Han Dynasty (25~220 AD). For a long time, Huizhou paper cuting has been regarded as a key carrier of the local people's daily life and rich culture. In ancient times, paper-cut works were important ornamentation to decorate wedding room usually, and later they may be used in temple fair and festival activities. In Huangshan, you can still explore this wonderful art. With one pair of scissors and several pieces of paper, the artists are able to make a flying butter fly, a singing magpie and some Chinese characters like 福 (blessing), 禄(affluence), 寿(longevity) and 喜(happiness).

Tunxi Hui Street (屯溪徽街) is a newly-built street to exhibit the Huizhou's intangible cultural heritage. Visiting the Paper Cutting Intangible Cultural Heritage Palace, you can not only see many great paper-cut works, but also join a class to learn Huizhou Paper cutting. The professional teachers will explain the knowledge about paper cutting first and teach you how to cut the paper then. With the help of the teachers, you can manage to cut the paper into different patterns, like a five-pointed star, a flower or an animal.

Ancient Huizhou is also famous for its four carvings, namely brick carving, wood carving, stone carving and bamboo carving. Hui Style Carving Museum exhibits many delicate carvings works, including bamboo and wood carving handicrafts, inkstone carving, rosewood furniture, Huizhou zithers, etc.

After appreciating the exquisite artworks, you can enjoy a Huizhou carving class. There will be an expert teaching you how to use a small tool to carve beautiful patterns on a piece of bamboo or wood. After finish your work, you will take photos with your teach and classmates. It is also available to take your carving works home.

Travel Ideas: Hui Style Carving Museum is about 10km away from Tangyue Memorial Archways and Bao Family's Garden. You are suggested to travel them together. Tangyue Memorial Archways are seven archways to memorize the virtues of seven Tangyue People. In Bao Family's Garden, you can see about 10,000 delicate and rare potted bonsai plants.

Brush is also one of China's Scholar's Four Jewels and a key element for make good Chinese traditional calligraphy. If you want to create a good calligraphy, a good writing brush is necessary. Huizhou Brush is also a represent of Huizhou Culture. Mr. Yang Wen (杨文), who mastered the skill of making Huizhou brush in his childhood, is the director of Huizhou Writing Brush Research Institution and the inheritor of Craftsmanship of Huizhou Brush. In his private store, you can learn a lot of knowledges about writing brushes. For Chinese calligraphy lovers, it is recommended to experience the process of making Huizhou writing brushes.

The whole process of making writing brush includes choosing brush, clipping brush, burdening, bonding and trimming brush pen. It seems simple make the writing brushes when you see the teachers working, but it never go smoothly when you do it by yourself. However, you can make it under the guidance of the teacher.

In fact, batik is not traditional skill in old Huizhou, but it will be nice journey to experience batik when you travel to Huangshan. There is a small batik workshop located near Wangsong Bridge of Nanping Village. Before entering it, you will be attracted by the pieces of blue cloth drying on the clothesline pole. Most of the decorative items in the workshop are colored by white and blue. The raw materials for batik are extracted from the plants. You can choose a kerchief, a scarf, a bolster or a bag for batik. The teacher will instruct you to design a patern and dye it into the dye vat slowly. After drying your finished works, you can take them home.

Travel Ideas: After you DIY batik experience, it's strongly recommended to pay a visit Nanping Village - a labyrinthine old village known as the museum of Chinese Ancient Ancestral Halls.