Fanning a resurgence in a cool identity

Master artisans dedicated to a craft established deep in the national psyche, Zhao Xu reports.

Editor's note: Traditional arts and crafts are supreme samples of Chinese cultural heritage. China Daily is publishing this series to show how master artisans are using dedication and innovation to inject new life into heritage. In this installment, we delve into the cultural roots of folding fans.

Nearly three decades have passed, but 57-year-old Xu Jiadong still remembers the day when he first went into a bamboo forest with his father to "handpick the ones that he would later use to make the ribs of folding fans".

It was in early January in Anji county of eastern China's Zhejiang province, where a special type of bamboo known as yu zhu, or "jade bamboo", grows in abundance.