As well-known as the other traditional handicrafts of Chengdu, such as the Shu Brocade and Embroidery, Silver Filigree Inlay Artwork and Lacquerware, the porcelain-bodied bamboo-woven ware is one of the city’s intangible cultural heritage items. But the porcelain-bodied bamboo weaving industry is now seeing a diminishing number of practitioners.

Tan Daiming, 55 years old, is one of the few people keeping and inheriting the traditional craftsmanship today. She runs a small shop at Songxianqiao Antique Market in downtown Chengdu, making and selling porcelain-bodied bambooware artworks. The graceful and culturally significant bamboo-woven handicrafts are becoming increasingly popular in modern times. Bamboo-woven products nowadays are not only used for daily use, for example, chopsticks, bed-mat, screen and basket, but also for high-grade handicrafts.

Durable and elegant traditional bamboo-woven articles are not only household necessaries, but also displayed at exhibitions and public places as they perfectly combine traditional and modern cultures.

The history of bamboo weaving in China can be traced back to thousands of years ago, and the production of porcelain-bodied bamboo-woven ware has lasted for over five hundred years. It is also on the list of national intangible cultural heritage items and represents the highest level in the Chinese traditional bamboo weaving workmanship.