Emeishan Bamboo Weaving

Emeishan's dense bamboo forests gave local craftspeople abundant material to develop the refined technique of splitting bamboo into hair-thin strips and weaving them into forms. The most celebrated variety is porcelain-body bamboo weaving, in which bamboo strips as fine as human hair are woven seamlessly over ceramic vessels.

Craftsmen split the green surface of bamboo into extremely fine strips, soften them in water and then weave them by hand over a porcelain base, with dozens of strips crossing per square centimetre. The finished piece combines the delicate texture of bamboo with the elegant form of porcelain.

Emeishan bamboo weaving is among the most technically demanding of China's bamboo craft traditions, a prime example of how the mountain area's cultural and natural resources are transformed into handcraft value.