Ancient techniques brought to life at fair as visitors enjoy orchestra of native instruments, provincial dishes, and virtual reality experiences

The long history, brilliant culture and abundant tourism resources in North China's Shanxi province were showcased at a high-profile industry fair recently held in the provincial capital of Taiyuan, once again attracting the attention of tourists and industry insiders.

The seventh Shanxi Cultural Industries Fair opened on Aug 21 and closed on Monday at the Xiaohe International Convention and Exhibition Center in Taiyuan.

With a history of more than 5,000 years, Shanxi is one of the cradles of Chinese culture. The province is one of the national leaders in terms of historical and cultural assets.

The Shanxi Cultural Industries Fair, which was launched in 2013, is a biennial event. Over the past few years, the fair has developed into an important venue to showcase Shanxi's cultural assets, tourism resources and latest achievements in the cultural industry. It has also witnessed a growing level of globalization, becoming a crucial platform for opening up Shanxi's cultural industry, according to organizers of the event.

This year's event featured the largest scale in its history, attracting the participation of more than 2,000 corporate exhibitors from China's 31 provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions, as well as Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao regions, along with 36 foreign countries and regions.

The seventh Shanxi Cultural Industries Fair highlighted the protection, inheritance and innovative development of Shanxi's cultural assets, aiming to help Shanxi grow into a powerhouse of cultural industries.

The protection and inheritance of cultural heritage are something that the people of Shanxi can take pride in. Shanxi is a treasure trove of ancient Chinese architecture. It has more than 500 nationally protected sites for cultural relics – mostly ancient buildings – ranking it first in the country. It is home to more than 70 percent of China's well-preserved buildings built before the Song (960-1279) and Jin (1115-1234) dynasties. In addition, there are a total of 28,027 old buildings scattered throughout the province.

The province also boasts 182 national-level intangible cultural heritage items and 198 recognized inheritors of such heritage items. Both numbers rank it among the highest in the country. It is noteworthy that many intangible cultural heritage items are still in use in Shanxi today.

In addition to protecting and inheriting cultural assets, local artists and cultural entities are endeavoring to revive such assets lost in history. Such efforts were a highlight of this year's event.

Lin Tao, an inheritor of the ancient technique for making chengni ink slab, brought his latest works to this fair.

Chengni ink slab is one of the top four ink slab varieties in China. It is among the "Four Treasures of Study" – writing brush, ink stick, paper and ink slab – sought after by enthusiasts of calligraphy and Chinese painting.

Chengni ink slabs also feature elegant shapes and delicate engravings, making them valuable pieces of art.

However, if not for the efforts of Lin Tao and his father, Lin Yongmao, chengni ink slabs would not be easily found on the market. The technique for making the clay-fired item was lost during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), although the craft can date back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220).

The father and son decided to revive this ancient technique in 1986. They visited many libraries to read historical documents and museums to study exhibits. After a lot of trial and error, they succeeded in making three chengni ink slabs in 1991. In 1994, the artworks won a gold prize at the China Expo of Famous Ink Slabs. They were recognized as Shanxi folk art masters by the provincial government in 2006.

This year, Lin Tao exhibited a total of 117 ink slabs. The exhibits attracted a great number of visitors, thanks to their innovative designs. For instance, many of the patterns engraved on the slabs feature historical figures and stories of Shanxi.

"We hope the ink slabs can tell the stories of Shanxi, functioning as heralds of Shanxi's culture," Lin Tao said.

Also at the seventh Shanxi Cultural Industries Fair, a set of bianzhong – or serial bells – was displayed. These are replicas of the ancient musical instruments discovered in the southeastern Shanxi city of Changzhi.

Bianzhong bells were among the major ritual musical instruments popular in the periods ranging from the Western Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-771 BC) to the Qin (221-206 BC) and Han Dynasty.

At noon on Aug 21, the exhibition surprised visitors as a bianzhong-featured concert – accompanied by other national musical instruments like guzheng, which is a 21-string plucked zither, guqin, a seven-stringed zither, and yangqin, another stringed instrument but played with bamboo beaters – was held.

"It is a delight to hear a concert using the instruments and a melody of thousands of years ago," said a member of the audience.

The shows of live cultural heritage items were also a big draw to audience members. These included folk songs from Xiangning county and dough sculptures made by Yuan Jianhua, an artist from Lanxian county. Yuan's works were especially enticing as she skillfully and swiftly turned pieces of dough into auspicious animals such as dragons, tigers, cattle, sheep and rabbits.

While a wide range of exhibits pleased the eyes of visitors, there were many things that treated their taste buds. There were delicacies crafted with centuries-old techniques recognized as intangible cultural heritage items, including beef from Pingyao county and matured vinegar from Qingxu county.

In addition to food, at the top of visitors' shopping lists were the creative cultural products throughout the exhibition halls.

People lined up at one section of the creative culture exhibition hall to buy refrigerator magnets inspired by the rooftop animal sculptures and wind chimes in Shuozhou's Chongfu Temple, as well as dolls wearing the local Jinju Opera costumes.

At the pavilion of Datong city, more than 3,000 creative cultural products replicating the statues and ornaments of Yungang Grottoes were sold out in a few hours.

Exhibits inspired by Shanxi's ancient buildings were among the most eye-catching at the fair.

At the section dedicated to creative cultural products made according to ancient buildings, several large models of wooden structures were placed at the center. Among them, the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda was the most imposing.

This section was managed by a local creative culture company called Shanhe Structuring. While using large models to attract visitors, there were a great number of smaller ones for sale.

"All the models are handmade," said Zhao Xiaofang, general manager of the company. "Through exhibiting and selling the models, we hope people can have a better understanding of the design, structure and other details of ancient buildings."

At the seventh Shanxi Cultural Industries Fair, visitors were offered novel, immersive experiences thanks to the use of digital technologies.

On Aug 21, visitors lined up in a queue of about 20 meters in front of the exhibition booth of Shanxi Cultural Relics and Museum Industry Group, waiting for an immersive experience of the Tiefo Temple, a famous Buddhist temple in Gaoping city.

With the help of mixed reality technology, visitors got a glimpse of the details of the structure, statues and ornaments of the temple on computers.

One visitor tried to examine the details of the statue of Guan Gong. His first click on an icon showed him a statue exactly the same as the one in the temple – a statue with a lost right arm.

When he clicked on the position of the right hand, an arm appeared and then the hand holding a large blade.

"This is something we call the digital restoration of relics," said Zhong Yong, an executive in charge of the exhibition. "We are showing what the relics looked like before they were damaged."

Shanxi Daily, one of the leading media groups in Shanxi, turned its exhibition booth into a virtual classroom of history with the use of virtual reality technology. The VR devices allowed visitors to learn about how civilizations evolved in Shanxi as well as the entire nation.

"When touching certain buttons on the controller, visitors can get themselves involved in the development of a civilization as revealed by archaeological discoveries at a certain relics site," said Li Yao, a staff member of Shanxi Daily. "They can take part in the site selection, design and construction of a settlement and engage in making pottery and bronze utensils, gaining knowledge about the life of ancient people."

At the exhibition booth of Ds Technologies based in Dalian, Liaoning province, humanoid robots gave visitors a more lifelike experience. The robots imitating Tang Dynasty (618-907) literati Wang Bo and Liu Zongyuan were the stars of the exhibition.

Wearing period clothing, they answered questions about Tang literature and recited poems together with visitors.

In history, Liu was a native of Shanxi and Wang earned household fame because of his poem dedicated to Stork Tower, a renowned tourist attraction in Shanxi's Yongji city.

Zhang Qi contributed to this story.

Students learn about Shanxi's history via virtual reality technology at the exhibition booth of the Shanxi Daily media group. YANG CHENYU/FOR CHINA DAILY

Local artists stage a folk dance at the event's subvenue in Jincheng city. ZHAO XIAYU/FOR CHINA DAILY

The detailed model of Sakyamuni Pagoda in Yingxian county, also known as the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, is among the most eye-catching and admired exhibits at the fair. ZHANG QI/FOR CHINA DAILY

From left: A concert, featuring bianzhong bells and other national musical instruments, is performed during the fair. Creative cultural products on display at the event attract flocks of visitors. People examine wooden models of Shanxi's ancient buildings at the seventh Shanxi Cultural Industries Fair. ZHANG QI/FOR CHINA DAILY