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“Meet Shanghai” – Time-honored Brands of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Make Better Life

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“Meet Shanghai” – Time-honored Brands of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Make Better Life

November 07
18:40 2019

For the first time, 4000 square meters of “Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) and China Time-honored Brands” exhibition area has been set up additionally at the Second China International Import Expo (CIIE) in which the Shanghai intangible cultural heritage and time-honored brands covers an area of 702 square meters. With the theme of “meeting Shanghai”, the exhibition area is divided into three: “Shikumen”, “Jiangnan dwellings” and “Shanghai time”. 37 national and municipal intangible cultural heritage items and 69 time-honored brands are presented in the forms of immersive experience and interactive communication. 18 troupes are to bring 20 performances of intangible cultural heritage to provide a comprehensive view of Shanghai’s history and future, business and culture as well as life and art. Strolling through them and paying homage to the red classics, recalling nostalgic memory, savoring the quality of life, or thinking freely about a bright future, visitors get to meet and feel Shanghai multi-dimensionally with broad perspective in a panoramic way, which is known for its “inclusiveness, excellence, sagaciousness and openness”.

New Scenes of Good Life

In the central square, the scenes of “Shanghai style Shikumen” and “Jiangnan Dwellings” with the theme of “meeting Shanghai” are spectacular, which will allow the visitors experiencing the charm of “red culture, Shanghai culture and Jiangnan culture” in an immersive way. The construction technique of Shikumen alleys is recognized as the national intangible cultural heritage. The architecture integrates the Chinese and western styles and has strong characteristics of Shanghai. In the change of time, Shikumen has gradually evolved from the “public living hall” of old Shanghai’s alley life to a “city reception hall” connecting the world and integrating China and foreign countries. The lintel of Shikumen is the best part of the whole building and reconstructed in this exhibition is the lintel on the site of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China, implying that “only if we don’t forget our original aspiration, can we bring honors to the family”.

The exhibition area of “Jiangnan dwellings” is themed with “bringing beauty in countryside and retaining nostalgia with art”. Inspired by the traditional folk houses in Shanghai, which are characterized with “symmetric central axis, herringbone double slope, gate of etiquette, five bats holding peach”, this area not only embodies the style of Jiangnan dwellings with white walls and black tiles, red blooms and green willow, but also shows the vigorous vitality and prosperity of the rural areas in Shanghai under the guidance of rural revitalization Strategy.

New Legend with Inherited Ingenuity

The time-honored brands of intangible cultural heritage share the characteristics of long history, inheritance from generation to generation, deep cultural background, good reputation and wide recognition, which are the common pursuit of values for fine traditional culture and modern business civility. As a part of Chinese excellent traditional culture, many masterpieces are collected and displayed at this exhibition. For example, Zhou Huchen’s weasel -hair brush pair, which took as long as 48 years to complete; Duo Yun Xuan’s large woodblock watercolor print work named “Immortals Offering Birthday Congratulations”, which took 8 years and more than 2000 engravings with elaborate carving work; the new national costume of Baromon that’s made according to “four skills, nine potentials and sixteen character standards” after “six steps and 144 processes”; the national musical instrument golden Guzheng “Phoenix on the Sea” that integrated two national intangible cultural heritages “Shanghai national musical instrument making technique” and “Lao Feng Xiang gold and silver filigree”; the 17-meter long, 0.8-meter high and 39 nursery rhymes in huge paper-cut “Shanghai Nursery Rhyme” that took 6 months for the representative inheritor of “Shanghai paper cutting” Li Shoubai to finish; the twined knot of “70th anniversary of the National Day”, which was specially made by LongFeng for celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China; and the giant 4.05-square-meter Shanghai-style woolen embroidery work “City of Dreams” that’s made for nearly a year, which mirrors the development and changes of Lujiazui… All of above reflect the persistence of the original aspiration and the assiduous pursuit of ingenuity.

New Experience of Modern Consumption

In this exhibition area, where a rich flavor of real life and the atmosphere of modern shopping are perfectly mixed, you may experience, interact, feel, recollect and think freely here. Walking through the alley, the road and the city is as if walking in an ever-changing time tunnel to experience the vicissitudes of the city. Opening eyes from sweet dreams in the early morning, you can smell the mixed aroma of the “Nanxiang Steamed Little Buns”, “Yu Garden” and “Qiao Jia Shan”, hear the bell ringing sound of “Phoenix Bicycle” passing through the alleys, the peddler’s cry of the “Ding Xingyi’s Feng Jing Pig Feet” and the playful children singing nursery rhymes… Bee & Flower sandalwood soap and MAXAM skin care products give you immediate vigor and comfy “Three Gun” underwear, stylish “Shanghai Watch”, “Baromon” new national suits and “Wu Liangcai Glasses” with 300 years of history all together get a good day started for you. Walking down the Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street after a day’s hard work, you see the flashing neon lights of shop signs of many time-honored brands including LongFeng cheongsam, Lei Yunshang, Warrior, Red Double Happiness, Du Yun Xuan, MaoChang Glasses, Hengdali, and the Peace Hotel jazz band is performing… Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street today is no longer just a shopping place for daily life; it is also the first choice for quality life and marks the new heights for “Shanghai shopping”. Evolving with time goes by, the time-honored brands of intangible cultural heritage and the long-standing spirit of ingenuity have become the most vital cultural symbols and business civility continuing the city’s new chapters and legendary story in the new era.

New Charm of Cultural Performance

18 intangible cultural heritage performing teams are invited. Shanghai Xinyi Ethnic Chamber Orchestra, Shanghai Kunju Opera Troupe, Shanghai Yueju Theatre, Shanghai Comic Theatre, Shanghai Opera Theatre and Shanghai Puppet Troupe etc. are to present 20 cultural performances elaborately. Operas such as Kunqu “Zhongkui’s Sister’s Getting Married”, children’s traditional Peking opera series “Kids Showcasing Chinese Treasure”, Yue Opera “Butterfly Love”, Shanghai rap and singing “Jinling Tower” etc.; music and dances such as Jiangnan Silk Bamboo, folk music “Dragon and Phoenix Bring Auspiciousness”, lantern rolling “Happy Lantern-rolling Man”, dragon and lion dancing “Competitive Dragon Dance” etc.; acrobatics shows such as Shanghai acrobatics “Dancing Diabolo”; Shanghai magic “Magic Box Phantom”; fashion show “Shanghai Qipao, Beautiful for You” etc. These wonderful performances not only create a happy and festive atmosphere for the Expo, but also show the cultural characteristics and the urban charm of Shanghai in the way that the visitors enjoy.

According to the work requirements of the Ministry of Commerce and other Departments on further promoting the reform and innovation of time-honored brands, in combination with the decision-making and deployment of the municipal party committee and the municipal government on vigorously launching the “Shanghai Shopping” brands and implementing 29 policies to promote consumption, the Municipal Commission of Commerce has attached great importance this year to the revitalization of time-honored brands as an important starting point to launch the “Shanghai Shopping” brands and promote consumption growth. It has cooperated with other offices, together with the teamwork of city and districts to speed up the reform, innovation and safeguarding of time-honored brands.

The first is to further promote “one product, one policy, one plan” and establish a new mechanism to promote the reform and innovation of time-honored brands. The Municipal Commission of Commerce has organized the implementation of “one product, one policy and one plan” in 222 time-honored brands in the city. Aiming at the personalized issues of each time-honored brand, it has formed “list of issues”, “list of objectives”, “list of responsibilities” and “list of tasks”. It has worked out the work plan and policy measures for each enterprise, so as to truly understand the issues, clarify the objectives, detail the tasks and implement the responsibilities.

The second is to supply the innovative system and add new impetus to the innovation and development of time-honored brands. In response to the call and concern of deepening the reform of time-honored brand enterprises, the municipal SASAC and the Municipal Commission of Commerce jointly formulated and issued several measures to promote the revitalization of time-honored brand of state-owned enterprises in this city, proposing 17 measures in six aspects, providing support in terms of assessment mechanism, brand management and transfer transaction, employment of professional managers, lease and brand development funds, so as to push brand revitalization through mechanism innovation.

The third is to optimize the business environment working together with districts and form a new force to revive the old brands. The Municipal Market Supervision Bureau has included the time-honored brand in the safeguarding list of key trademark, and actively constructed a major safeguarding system of trademark protection, technology protection, and original site protection. The Municipal Bureau of Finance and the Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology provide sufficient guarantee for brand capital, and the Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security actively supports the construction of highly skilled talents in time-honored enterprises. Huangpu, Jingan, Hongkou and other districts have introduced the action plan to promote the revitalization of the time-honored brand and set up special funds; Jingan District has built the North Shaanxi Road time-honored brand street; Huangpu District has upgraded the characteristic shopping district of the time-honored brand in Yu Garden; Jinshan District has implemented the revitalization project of the time-honored brand in the Yangtze River Delta promoting the construction of “one street, one garden and one platform”; and Songjiang District has actively coordinated and solved the practical difficulties of the time-honored enterprises.

The fourth is to rely on the platform of publicity and promotion and show the new style of the time-honored brand in a full range. During the Spring Festival this year, a group of time-honored brands, such as Phoenix Bicycle, were organized to participate in the exhibition activity of “Chinese time-honored brands, the new year of the Forbidden City”; in May, 62 time-honored brands were organized to participate in the China brand day activity and the new product launch activity of time-honored brands in the Yangtze River Delta held in Jinshan District; the selection of “people’s favorite time-honored brands” was carried out jointly with the newspaper group; in July, the selection of companion gifts was organized; In September, the 13th China Time-honored Brands Expo was held; at the Second CIIE, 69 time-honored brands were organized to participate in the exhibition and demonstration activity of time-honored brands promoting nearly 2000 types of products of 35 time-honored brands to enter Pudong and Hongqiao airports.

With the joint efforts of all parties, the Shanghai time-honored brands have shown new vitality and “four new” characteristics in adhering to the heritage:

First, the new mechanism stimulates the endogenous power of the time-honored brands, and the old enterprises renew their vitality. The cases that Worrier’s employment of professional managers, Lifeng’s introduction of social capital, Strauss’s cross-regional cooperation and others show that through system reform and mechanism innovation, the endogenous power of the development of time-honored brand enterprises is continuously enhanced, and the overall scale of time-honored brand enterprises is constantly growing. The annual revenue of five enterprises, Lao Feng Xiang, SSCW, Maling Aquarius, Bright Dairy and Old Temple Gold exceeds 10 billion yuan, and the annual revenue of 13 enterprises is increasing more than 1 billion yuan.

Second, new products continue to emerge, and old brand new products become a fashion trend. On the basis of inheriting the traditional technique and keeping the original taste, the time-honored brands develop new products continuously according to the new market demand. The time-honored brand enterprises have launched more than 2000 “old brand new products” and among them, the Big White Rabbit lip gloss, the Warrior’s “Power Capable” sports shoes and a large number of other new products have been popular throughout the country.

Third, new technology pushes the upgrading of time-honored brands and improves their market competitiveness. Technology is the productivity, and time-honored brands are unwilling to merely work on traditional technology. In recent years, with the power of technology, they have made great efforts in new technology and new materials to continuously improve the technical content of products, which has become a strong support for “Shanghai Shopping” brand. The 25 time-honored brands have national and municipal technology centers; the vitality of innovation is continuously released; Qiao Jiashan has been upgraded into a Shanghai style featured snack experience bar; Meilong town has opened new retail channels to realize diversified innovation in business forms.

Fourth, the new model expands the development space for the time-honored brands covering both online and offline, at home and abroad. 38 time-honored brands have implemented the internationalization strategy, and the international influence has steadily increased. Five of them, including Double Coin tires, have exported more than 100 million yuan. Three Guns has shown the new fashion of “national trend” in New York Fashion week. Lao Feng Xiang has opened 19 stores in New York, Vancouver, Sydney and Hong Kong, China.

Next, we will continue to pay equal attention to inheritance and innovation, reform and protection, linkage and collaboration, continue to deepen reform, accelerate the reformation of old state-owned enterprises and introduce the experimental units for professional management and out-of-use brand exchange; to persist in driving the innovation, and promote the development of Nanjing, Yu Garden, Jinshan and other time-honored brand clustered areas; to support the crossover collaboration, strong linkage and group development of time-honored brand enterprises; to strengthen brand protection, further inherit and carry forward the technique and culture of time-honored brand; to highlight and strengthen the foundation, cultivate the “quality benchmark” of time-honored brand, implement the “inheritors” training project, strengthen the promotion and inheritance of techniques; to enhance publicity and tell good stories of time-honored brands on the international stage, and promote the brand culture and business value.

Highlights of Exhibiting Activities at 2019 CIIE of Shanghai Intangible Cultural Heritages (ICH) & Time-honored Brands

1. Exhibition area of “Shikumen of Shanghai style” – A city reception hall across time and space

2. Exhibition area of “Jiangnan Dwellings” – A picture scroll of countryside made with ingenuity

3. Exhibition area of “Shanghai Time” – A modern city of openness and inclusiveness

4. The largest masterpiece woodblock watercolor printing in its history – “Immortals Offering Birthday Congratulations” by Duo Yun Xuan

5. Golden Guzheng “Phoenix on the Sea” that integrated traditional techniques of two national intangible cultural heritages

6. Zhou Huchen’s long-tip weasel-hair brush pair made in 48 years

7. Hero pen that witnessed the 40-year history of reform and opening up

8. The 17-meter long giant paper-cut work “Shanghai Nursery Rhyme”

9. Jinshan farmers’ painting – cultural confidence towards the international fashion stage

10. The innovation of intangible cultural heritage – A must-see public art installation “Never Ending” decorated with Xuhang grass weaving art works

11. Phoenix Bicycle and Zunyi Rattan Weaving – Old brand becomes new highlight of ICH poverty alleviation project

12. State gift Chinese traditional suits tailored with 144 processes

13. LongFeng cheongsam of dynamic four seasons

14. When ICH meets AI

15. State secret product of nearly 200 years – Liushen pill making technique

Media Contact
Company Name: Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts
Contact Person: Anna ZHU
Email: Send Email
Country: China
Website: http://www.arts.shu.edu.cn