Ｃｕｌｔｕｒｅ Ｅｘｐｏ Ｉｓ ａ Ｗｉｎｄｏｗ ｏｎ Ｃｕｌｔｕｒｅ

The 2008 China Yiwu Cultural Products Exposition has been held in Yiwu， a huge market city in central Zhejiang， a coastal province in eastern China. The expo began on April 28 and ended on May 2. Although the event was mainly a display of Chinese products， it assigned a space for exhibits from 25 countries such as Italy， Argentina， Germany， Brazil， Egypt， South Africa， Japan and Korea.

International exhibitors spoke highly of the international faccedil;ade of the exposition. They brought in their exotic features to Yiwu. For example， business people from Thailand exhibited jewelry， wood crafts and furniture ornaments. Photographs of tropic fruits were also a big attraction. Exhibitors from foreign countries were deeply impressed by the internationalization of Yiwu.

Top-class Chinese artists attended the exposition and demonstrated their artworks and skills. Artists from Zhejiang were a major presence at the exposition. Xu Guqing， a master sculptor of roots， displayed the world’s biggest root sculpture entitled 500 Arhats. The 1，000-year-old root presents individual images of Buddhist arhats and the whole sculpture conforms ingeniously to the natural shape of the root. The folk sculptor has spent the last 29 years carving on painted camphor wood. His figure sculptures wowed visitors. Zhu Xinqi， another folk artist from Yiwu， exhibited more than 80 of his paper-cutting artworks. The 7-meter-long paper-cut masterpiece he presented is a version of China’s classical painting The Qingming Festival on the River. It took him two years to complete the paper-cutting masterpiece. A businessman from Taiwan commented that the paper carving was worth at least 800，000. Other local artists displayed artworks such as straw paintings， cloth paintings， carvings on pearls and shells.

Artists from beyond Zhejiang also caused sensation at the exposition. Zhou Zhihui， a painter known for his artworks on seascape， brought his masterpieces to the exposition. Zhu Kuirong， a local artist， presented two of his latest carvings. He Bingqin， a professor with Jingdezhen Porcelain Institute known for a style of lucidity and modernity， displayed his artworks in Yiwu for the first time. Lotus， a representative work he displayed at the expo， defines his excellence. Visitors appreciated its unique artistry. Cheng Weimin and Rao Xiaoqing， two artists also from Jingdezhen， displayed their artworks. Cheng’s works of art have been in the collection of Zhongnanhai and presented as gifts to visiting state guests. Another major presence at the expo was porcelains from Dehua of Quanzhou in Fujian Province. The colored porcelains are masterpieces made by more than 20 different masters. These porcelains highlighted eye-catching tints. In recent years， artists in Dehua have developed top-class everyday utensils and tea sets as well as artworks. One porcelain artwork at the exposition was marked at 396，000 yuan.

The exposition this year also emphasized intangible cultural heritage in Zhejiang. Lishui prefecture in southern Zhejiang is home to three ancient treasures: stone carving in Qingtian， celadon and sword in Longquan. In recent years， the prefecture government has spared no efforts to promote the three major crafts. In 2006， the stone carving of Qingtian was put on the first list of national intangible cultural heritage. In the wake of the national recognition， the stone sculpture was officially included in a Zhejiang project as a key cultural product for further development. The local government has adopted a series of effective measures and succeeded in promoting the original heritage. The government of Longquan County has greatly promoted the crafts of sword and celadon through a series of effective measures. With the ancient workshops restored， the kilns have become a great tourism attraction. □