The Four Major Kite Making Regions in China

The four major production areas of kites in China are Beijing, Tianjin, Nantong and Weifang.

I. Beijing

Beijing has been the traditional origin of kites since the Ming and Qing dynasties, and is famous for its exquisite production, which generally takes ten procedures to make a kite. In earlier years, kites were one of the specialties of Liulichang, with traditional kites being the most distinctive, but they are hard to find in the Liulichang generation.

The masterpiece of Beijing kites is Shayan kites (also called Jingyan kites). There are two representatives: one is Jin Fuzhong and his siblings, who were born in the top ten kites, and the exquisite kites in the color film "Kites", a French-Chinese co-production in the 1950s, came from their hands.

The other family is "Kite Ha" which is famous in China and abroad. The thin sand swallow and string kite which won the special prize at the "International Kite Show Competition Conference" in 1983 in San Francisco, USA, were made by the heir of "Kite Ha" at that time. "

Beijing Kite Flying Center, Beijing, China.

Beijing kites had a new development, and many famous novices appeared, each with their own specialties in kite making, some of them were good at making huge kites, such as the dragon which was 90 meters long and 120 sections; some of them were good at making small and delicate kites, such as small palm swallows which were only a few centimeters long, and so on.

Tianjin

Tianjin kite production, a long history, exquisite craftsmanship, can be confirmed from the Qing Dynasty, Tianjin Yangliuqing New Year's Paintings, "ten beautiful paintings flying kites," there are stringed lanterns, plate eagles, monks fetch the scriptures, butterflies, and other 10 kinds of kites.

The famous kite artist Wei Yuantai (1872-1961) made significant contributions to the Tianjin folk kite-making technique and enjoyed a good reputation in China and abroad. He was apprenticed to a color-tying store since he was a child and had a keen interest in tying kites. After repeated studies on the flying postures of flying birds and insects, he changed the hard-winged style of kites in the past and created a new type of kite.

The biggest feature of this kind of kite is that it can be put into a big kite which is more than one foot long, and then folded and put into a small envelope, which is easy to be collected and carried; and the coloring of the kite absorbed the painting techniques in the ancient architecture of our country, which makes the kite more rich in national characteristics. He has been engaged in kite making all his life, and he has developed more than 200 kinds of kites in his whole life, and he is known as "Kite Wei".

Three, Nantong

Nantong kites have preserved the characteristics of the ancient "strings ringing in the sky called kites", known for its unique acoustics, and the modeling of kites in the north is divided into the north and south.

Nantong kites are commonly known as "board harriers", with flat hexagonal, or hexagonal deformation "seven-star" to "nineteen-star" in the majority, the general size of more than one meter, the largest vertical up to four or five meters. The biggest one is four or five meters high and needs to be carried by truck. The "board harrier" is decorated with whistles of different sizes, and the lower oversized whistles are made of gourd, bamboo, white fruit, longan, ping-pong balls, and so on.

The harrier surface and painted with myths and legends and other folk paintings, the lower part of the Department of two dozens of meters long tail rope, an exquisite board harrier, is a precious folk crafts, the local people at home are treasured, and passed down from generation to generation.

Large board harriers need more people to pull the release of the flight, after the rise of the large and small whistles were issued in low, medium and high, the five tones of harmony, pleasing to the ear, the sound of miles, like the "symphony in the air", it is said that there are more than 30 kinds of whistles models.

Four, Weifang

Weifang, also known as Weidu (Iris), the production of kites has a long history and exquisite craftsmanship. Bamboo is used to tie the skeleton, high-grade silk mask, hand-painted.

The combination of craftsmanship and fine art embodies the play value of kites. With the gradual and frequent international kite exchanges, kites, an ancient folk art, have flourished under the new situation and have become an important artwork.

The types of local kites are soft-winged, hard-winged, tap-stringed boards and three-dimensional barrels. It is not only widely used for flying, competition and entertainment, but has also become a fashionable ornament to beautify people's life.

The kite is the symbol of Weifang, and the annual kite festival is an activity to pull the economic development of Weifang with kites.

The best of kites

1, 10,000 people fly kites in Weifang, China, to set a new Guinness World Record

April 16, 2011, Britain The Guinness World Records certifying officer Wu Xiaohong announced here that the 10,000 people who flew kites together in Weifang, China, with 10,465 kites flying at the same time, set a new Guinness World Record for the event, which was held by 6,198 people in Gaza in 2010.

2, giant kites

August 5, 2014, an area of 1,500 square meters of the "octopus" soft kite, in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, Xilamuren Grassland, the Grassland Kite Festival held in the sky.

The soft octopus kite, the creator of the Guinness Book of Records for the world's largest kite, was made by the Hei Ge kite team from Tianjin over a period of three months in 2013, and the largest kite had to be towed by heavy bulldozers on the grassland to be flown.

3, the world's longest kite

April 4, 2015, Chongqing Wulong 2015 International Kite Flying Festival opened, professionals held the world's longest kite (6,000 meters) flying performance on the spot, far more than the 5,000-meter Guinness World Record.

The kite consists of 2,000 pieces of leaves printed with the "Chinese Dream", all of which will take 6-8 hours to fly, up to 6,000 meters of the world's longest kite flying.