Jinan traditional carving art charms Chicago

An experience course featuring traditional Chinese egg carving and porcelain carving was recently held at Westinghouse High School in Chicago, showcasing foreign students the charms of Chinese traditional handcrafts.

Egg carving and porcelain carving are intangible cultural heritages in Jinan, East China's Shandong province.

Egg carving refers to the ancient folk art of carving paintings on the bird eggs, while Jinan porcelain carving is known for the use of a knife instead of a pen to carve porcelain.

Shan Mengbo, a practitioner of the two traditional handcrafts, showed off his skills to local students and teachers, giving them an up close look at Chinese traditional culture.

Shan, now in his 70s, has been devoted to egg and porcelain carving for more than 20 years. He has said that he will continue to promote the two art forms around the world.

The experience activity was jointly hosted by the Chicago Public School District, Beijing Language and Culture University North America Branch and Shandong University Chinese Traditional Culture Research and Experience Base.

It has invited a number of practitioners of intangible cultural heritages and cultural experts to bring Chinese traditional arts to 20 public schools in the United States over a period of 10 days.

The event played an important role in introducing Jinan's traditional culture to countries around the world.