(ECNS) -- At an intangible cultural heritage workshop in Dingxi City, Gansu Province, trendy shoulder bags, fashionable hair clips, and Chinese-style scarves have attracted much attention.
In addition to creative traditional Chinese design styles, all products are hand-made with traditional Chinese herbal medicine.
Qi Hui, in charge of the workshop, said Dingxi City, as the capital of Chinese herbal medicine, is rich in more than 300 kinds of Chinese herbs, which can be used for dozens of kinds of fiber dyeing.
Thus, she came up with the idea of integrating the dyeing of Chinese medicinal materials with traditional crafts like handmade embroidery, wood art and paper cuts.
"There are few crafts or artworks related to traditional Chinese Medicine. To me, traditional Chinese medicine is not only about herbs and functional food. I also want to reflect the artistic aspect of its culture," Qi said.
A local resident admitted she prefers Chinese herbal medicine tie-dyed clothing since the culture of Chinese herbal medicine is rooted in the hearts of local people.
"I think fashion products based on traditional Chinese culture particularly cater to the aesthetic of young people nowadays," said Ma Yujie, a local resident.
Products made with environmentally friendly Chinese herbal medicines are especially good for people's health, unlike those foreign fashion products, which use chemical dyes.
There are now 21 intangible cultural heritage workshops in Dingxi, and many cultural and creative products made from traditional Chinese medicine have gone overseas, according to the deputy director of the local intangible cultural heritage protection center.
"The public has grown increasingly interested in all aspects of traditional Chinese culture. In addition, Chinese inheritors have been committed to revitalizing traditional crafts. As a result, our cultural and creative products have been well received both inside and outside the province, and some of them have become popular overseas," said Sun Ru, deputy director of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center of Dingxi City.
