ICH industry helps create jobs, reduce poverty in Linyi

A villager weaves Langya straw, the technique of which has been certified as an intangible cultural heritage by Shandong's Linyi city. [Photo/chinanews.com]

Linyi, Sep 18 (Linyi China) -- In southern regions of Shandong, the ongoing rural revitalization campaign has been encouraging more locals to explore the economic value of many intangible cultural heritages, such as claborate-style paintings, wooden folk carvings, Langya straw weaving and the making of erhu (a two-stringed bowed musical instrument).

With the help of "e-commerce +" strategy, a large number of cultural and industrial projects have been formed in the anti-poverty drive, creating more jobs and income for the poor. Shandong is currently working hard to deepen its poverty alleviation drive using cultural means.

At a campaign meeting on the promotion of rural revitalization with cultural means, Wang Lei, head of the provincial cultural department said that the province has successively issued a "Problem-Solving and Implementation Plan on Poverty Alleviation With Cultural Means in Shandong", a "Three-Year Work Plan of Winning the Anti-Poverty Battle Campaign (2018-2020)" and a "Special Cultural Plan on Relocation and Reconstruction for Residents from Yellow River Flood Lands", specifying the assignments, roadmap and schedule for the targeted anti-poverty campaign using cultural means.

Recently, a group of reporters joined an "Interviews on How Intangible Cultural Heritage Helps Poverty Alleviation Tour" hosted by the provincial cultural department of Shandong, successively visiting Cao county, Dingtao district, Juye county of Heze city and Tancheng county and Junan county of Linyi city to learn about the achievements of targeted poverty alleviation with cultural means and find out more about how much intangible cultural assets have contributed to the anti-poverty drive and rural revitalization campaign.

Miaoshan town of Linyi city's Tancheng county has turned to two intangible cultural heritages: Xuezhuang wicker weaving and erhu making.

The town has been exploring a development mode combining Intangible cultural heritages with cultural industry development, construction of a beautiful village and all-area tourism targeted at poverty alleviation, continuously promoting intangible cultural heritage-related cultural industries.

In the meantime, the town hosts training in how e-commerce supports intangible cultural heritages to encourage craftsmen to open shops online and expand the market for their products.

About 10 kilometers away from Miaoshan is Shengli town, where farmers grow Langya grass. Farmers making handicrafts from woven straw is a long tradition. The technique of weaving Langya straw has been certified as an intangible cultural heritage by Linyi city.

Fifty-year-old Yan Bingxiu has been weaving Langya straw for more than 30 years. According to her, the local government employs a poverty alleviation mode of "enterprises + branches + workshops + poor families". Enterprises are encouraged to employ the poor and reach more poor people by contracting with workshops, supporting the villagers'struggle to escape poverty.

In 2018, Shandong continues to support 1,000 intangible cultural heritage artists and craftsmen to train more apprentices and pass their craftsmanship along.

Today, there are more than 1.1 million enterprises or business units of various traditional crafts in the province. Their annual revenues reach 126,736 billion yuan and generate 13.56 billion yuan in taxes. The industries employ more than 3 million people; over 400,000 of them are from poor households.

Editor：梁子硕