Wei Kite-Making

"Wei the Kite-Maker" arose in the Tongzhi and Guangxu reigns of the Qing dynasty, when Wei Yuantai opened the Changqingzhai Wei kite workshop in Tianjin and devoted himself to refining the craft; it was added to the national ICH list in 2008 as an extension of kite-making.

The craft is marked by carefully chosen materials and a frame joined with eyelets and mortise-and-tenon, so a kite can be taken apart and folded into a box; the covering is often silk and gauze, hand-painted with graded shading.

Wei kites span more than two hundred forms — flat, bowed, three-dimensional, strung and miniature — with shapes and colours rich in national character, making the craft one of the emblems of Tianjin folk art.

Wei kites and their workshop can be seen on Tianjin's Ancient Culture Street.