The Fifth China Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo will open on Sept 13 in Jinan, capital of Shandong province. 

Jointly organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Shandong provincial government and the Jinan municipal government, the national-level expo will last until Sept 17, offering a platform to display the country's rich and colorful cultural legacies as well as its achievements in intangible cultural heritage protection.

The expo is designed to translate cultural heritage into a modern context so that the people of today can continue to enjoy items and traditions from the past.

The main venue of the expo is Jinan Shungeng International Exhibition Center, with two floors of exhibition areas of 14,000 square meters. 

This year the expo will be divided into eight exhibition areas of Chinese embroidery and dyeing, pottery making, weaving and braiding, tea making and brewing, printing and engraving, furniture and stationery, traditional Chinese medicine processing and carving and moulding. 

Exhibit of its kind will be displayed in the same area, so that visitors can choose exhibition areas regarding their interests and likes, which will greatly improve the efficiency and the visiting experience.

Five parts of on-site ICH related activities will also be held, namely performances, exhibitions, competitions, experience activities and forums.

Traditional music, dance, opera and quyi (quyi refers to Chinese folk arts such as ballad singing, storytelling, comic dialogues, clapper talks and cross talks) will be performed at several occasions.

Competitions will also be organized where folk artists can showcase their skills of paper-cutting, embroidery and traditional performing arts. 

Visitors can also try their hands on traditional handicrafts at the experience section under the guidance of ICH inheritors. 

This year two large-scale forums will gather experts, scholars and folk artists to discuss topics of "traditional craft revitalization and targeted poverty alleviation" and "the inheritance and development of traditional performing arts".

In addition to the main venue, ICH performances and exhibitions will also come to communities, schools, scenic spots, rural areas and other public places, in a bid to engage more people in the expo. 

Through application of internet and multi-media live streaming technologies, the expo will be held online and offline. Its official website has been set up for the live broadcast and display of the stories of ICH heritors, the production process of traditional crafts as well as ICH products. 

To expand its influence, the expo organizing committee will work with e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba to promote their cooperation with exhibitors and ICH heritors. 

An artist of Tu ethnic group performs paper-carving at the Third China Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition in Jinan, the capital city of East China's Shandong province, Oct 10, 2014. [Photo by Wang Kaihao/China Daily] 

People view handicrafts made from pottery sculpture at the Fourth China Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo in Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong province, Sept 24, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

An artist demonstrates Suzhou embroidery at the Fourth China Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo in Jinan, Shandong province, Sept 21, 2016. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]