Leveraging new technologies

Director General of UNESCO Irina Bokova (second left) visit the experience center

In addition to physical experiences, the project also seeks to fully leverage information technologies in helping safeguard and disseminate China's intangible cultural heritage.

Yongxin Huayun launched the efeiyi.com e-commerce website as an extension of the experience center and workshops. The establishment of an online store and the digitization of cultural products provide masters with an additional channel to disseminate their art, while increasing their income. Craftsmen receive a significant portion of the profits generated by the sales of art creations on the website, according to Ye.

According to Luo Yong, Vice President of Yongxin Huayun, a data bank is currently under construction, aimed at gathering information of all elements listed as part of China and the world's intangible cultural heritage.

In the future, virtual reality and augmented reality technologies will also be used to showcase ancient production techniques to visitors. "By using new technologies, we can go back in history and go beyond the limits of time and space, and this makes culture more alive," Luo told ChinAfrica.

This system will be closely linked with the network of offline shops in Qianmen. In the experience center, each of the masters' creation is already accompanied by a QR code. By scanning the code, visitors can access a full introduction of the product and its creator, and even purchase it on the spot. Supporting and understanding intangible cultural heritage has never been easier.

Avoiding pitfalls

Efforts to fully integrate traditional crafts into modern society, however, are not without their pitfalls, which stakeholders must strive to identify and avoid, according to UNESCO.

In particular, some measures aimed at popularizing and "selling" the intangible heritage can sometimes lead to disruptions and imbalances within the heritage.

UNESCO noted that in the context of excessive marketing, artisans tend to focus on the elements most favored by the market and neglect other aspects of their heritage, whose cultural value is equally important.

Well aware of this risk, Yongxin Huayun is taking concrete steps to prevent the artistic creation process from falling entirely under the influence of market trends.

"The masters only focus on creating their artworks, and we take responsibility for disseminating the information and selling them on our online platform. This way, we ensure that the creative process is not influenced by the market, and the masters can devote all their energy to their creation," Luo told ChinAfrica.

Moreover, rather than focusing on solely selling the artworks, the experience center employees are trained to maximize the visitors' experience. "It's important to show visitors not just the products, but also to make them understand the stories behind the artworks," said Chi Hongge, a staff member at the experience center.

Once the Qianmen neighborhood is fully established, Yongxin Huayun plans to build a dozen similar experience centers over the next decade, extending its operations to other places of China, and all the way to Paris and Australia.

Delighted by this perspective, Yao hopes the project can now unfold more quickly. "The more masters join the project, the larger the Qianmen cultural district will become. Then, the cycle of creation, transmission, protection and sale will be sustainable in the long term," she said.

For the moment, she continues to do what she does best - sharing with the younger generation her passion for Suzhou embroidery, motivated by the fact that her beautiful creations will soon be accessible to enthusiasts all over the world.