Intangible Cultural Heritages around Great Wall- Scrap Leathersmiths, Far-out Travellers

The legacy of the Great Wall is not only the magnificent earth-and-stone structure that travels on mountain tops for ten thousand miles and the reverie that runs through thousand years but also the star-studded shining image of an intangible cultural heritage site.

Over 100 km southwest of Zhangjiakou lies a county named Yangyuan, which is the birthplace of the Chinese fur culture and the hometown of scrap leather craftsmen. Its scrap leather processing skills have been inscribed into the list of provincial level intangible cultural heritage. More than 500 years ago, scrap leathersmiths in Zhangjiakou, represented by scrap leathersmiths of Yangyuan, hit the road, starting from the Dajingmen or the Big Entry Door of the Great Wall and travelled northward all the way to Kuren in Mongolia, Chaktu in Russia...

Today, Generation Z of the Yangyuan scrap leathersmiths have creatively cut the fashionable scrap leather garments into a cultural symbol at the foot of the Great Wall, demonstrating the holy charm of oriental culture. Their scrap leather products are sold into over 20 countries and regions such as Russia, the United States, Germany, South Korea and Japan.

Chief Supervisor: Li Yao
Planners: Shang Tang, Zheng Shifan, Yang Jianmin, Deng Guangtao
Coordinator: Hu Xiaomei
Editors and Directors: Yuan Lipeng, Yan Chengqun, Li Lijun
Script Writer: Peng Yunhui
Directors of Photography: Zhang Jianxun, Du Ruonan
Visual Designer: Shi Yutong
Script Translators: Zheng Bai, Li Wenpei, Li Shi (Intern)
Text Proofreaders: Song Lifang, Mi Wenting (Intern)
Instructor Unit: the Publicity Department of the CPC Hebei Provincial Committee
Acknowledgments: Thanks should go to the Publicity Department of the CPC Yangyuan County Committee
Editor: Song Lifang
Source: http://english.hebei.com.cn