Academic study tours a hit in Huangshan's Yixian county

Yixian county in Huangshan city, Anhui province has introduced a series of study tours that offer firsthand experiences of traditional Huizhou skills and crafts.

It's proved to be a hot hit, with over 40,000 students participating in the study tours since June.

Local craftsmen collaborate with off-campus research centers, such as the Yunxian Research Base – located in Bishan village, Biyang town, in Huangshan – to offer the students courses on traditional Huizhou skills.

These include fashioning fish-shaped lanterns, printmaking and making Huizhou ink sticks.

A fascinating display of Huizhou ink sticks. The subject is one of China's Four Treasures of Study – the other three being brushes, paper and ink stones – which are venerated by artists and collectors alike. [Photo/WeChat ID: gh_fddd8e6b4139]

With nearly 20 well-developed courses in intangible cultural heritage items, the Yunxian Research Base attracted over 40 summer camp groups last month, with 20 more on the way.

Most of the groups are from Beijing and the Yangtze River Delta region.

By encouraging kids to learn outside the world of books and gain practical experience, this approach has found favor among parents, who appreciate the educational aspect of the tours.

To date, Yixian county has established one national, two provincial and two city-level intangible cultural heritage research bases – providing tourists with the opportunity to move from classroom knowledge to practical understanding.

Moving forwards, plans are for Yixian county to add to the courses and provide the best services it can so as to boost the integrated development of culture and tourism.