Hangzhou is safeguarding the sustainable development of Intangible Cultural Heritage via digitalization

HANGZHOU, China, July 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report by haiwainet.cn: Relying on blockchain, 5G, cloud computing, AI, and through digital space modeling, VR, AR, 3D printing and other technical means, Hangzhou is vitalizing Intangible Cultural Heritage by supporting individuals and communities in preserving and sharing the culture that matters.

Hangzhou has a large number of excellent Intangible Cultural Heritage, such as Hangzhou embroidery, Banshan Clay Cat, Tianzhu chopsticks... At the main venue of the China Grand Canal Intangible Cultural Heritage Tourism Conference held in Gongshu in early June this year, the first digital collection of the Hangzhou Digital Intangible Cultural Heritage Section, a West Lake silk umbrella named Three Pools Mirroring the Moon, was launched, and 1,500 West Lake silk umbrellas were instantly sold out.

Through a variety of digital technologies, the Hangzhou Grand Canal intangible cultural heritage digital collection has also integrated online and offline experiences. For example, some digital collections will come with offline "benefits", visitors can go to Hangzhou Gongshu Station, a national traditional craft workstation located on the Grand Canal River, to redeem "benefits" such as intangible cultural heritage experience courses and canal tea breaks.

Digital technology has added more possibilities for the safeguarding and sustainable development of intangible cultural heritage. There are already many influential inheritors in Hangzhou who are testing the waters in the field of intangible cultural heritage digital collections. For example, 16 woodblock watermark digital collections of Ten Bamboo Hall by Wei Lizhong, the inheritor of Chinese intangible cultural heritage woodblock watermarks, have sold more than 25,000 copies in just a few days, with around 50,000 potential buyers participating.

The sustainable development of intangible cultural heritage needs the help of new technologies. Through technology, intangible cultural heritage can be packaged into a form that is more in line with modern lifestyles, so everyone can be engaged in the process of reviving intangible cultural heritage.