Recently, “Bubuying” Intangible Cultural Heritage Life Museum welcomed a group of special visitors. They are the participants of 2024 Donghua University “Belt and Road” Advanced Seminars for Textile Industry International Cooperation in Production Capacity. A total of 20 textile industry practitioners and university teachers and students from 8 countries including Serbia and Vietnam came to Chongming to learn about Chongming’s long history of textile and experience the charm of intangible cultural heritage.

“Bubuying” Intangible Cultural Heritage Life Museum is located in Huimin Village, Shuxin Town. It is a cultural and creative product experience base for Chongming homespun. It shows tourists various styles of homespun and weaving tools, where they can experience the wonders of homespun weaving. The plant dyeing exhibition hall in the museum displays various dyed products and dyeing process models from different periods, allowing visitors to further understand the cultural stories behind Chongming homespun.

On the day of the event, under the guidance by the staff, the participants visited the homespun workshop and the plant dyeing exhibition hall. They immersively experienced the process of spinning and weaving. Through on-site observation and experience, they understood the cultural significance and social value behind these skills, and witnessed how to integrate these traditional handicrafts into the development of modern rural tourism and realize integrated development of rural culture and rural tourism.

“Traditional textile products brim with new vitality. They become very popular among people in the “Belt and Road” countries. Chongming natives turn pure natural cotton into cotton strips, which are then woven into a piece of cloth after more than 70 handicrafts including plant dyeing. Today, these homespun cloths have gained a new lease of life through inheritance and innovation.” Jelina from Serbia told reporters, “It was a rewarding experience to observe Chongming’s traditional textile techniques on site.”

The reporter learned that “Belt and Road” Advanced Seminars for Textile Industry International Cooperation in Production Capacity was approved by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission. It brought together industry experts, university teachers and students from Central Asia, West Asia and Eastern Europe under the “Belt and Road” Initiative to help cultivate high-level talents in the industry and promote textile industry international cooperation in production capacity. Since 2017, Donghua University has hosted five sessions of “Belt and Road” Advanced Seminars for Textile Industry International Cooperation in Production Capacity. The seminars have shown students from various countries China’s economic, social and cultural development since the reform and opening up, especially the cutting-edge development of modern textile technology, the exchange and integration of technology and fashion. Through on-site observation in first-class textile companies, it has comprehensively displayed the process and direction of China’s modernization.

As one of the sites for the advanced seminar to carry out practice activities, the “Bubuying” Intangible Cultural Heritage Life Museum allows students to experience the unique charm of Chongming’s traditional textile skills. “We will continue to improve the cultural and creative service platform with fabric weaving and dyeing as the core, helping students from all over the world gain a deeper and more concrete understanding of the development and future of China’s textile industry,” said the relevant person in charge of “Bubuying”.