The Best of the Best in China's Kites

Beijing kites: also known as court kites, are regarded as the "best of the best" among China's kites. Originally, it was a plaything for the court officials and dignitaries to play with, and the artists usually made it according to the requirements, which was fine and luxurious, with exquisite structure and no expense was spared, and the modeling and decorations were more extravagant and elaborate. Beijing kites are famous for making swallow kites, which are fat, thin, baby swallows and winged swallows, and because of the differences in their body sizes, they show different demeanors, such as sturdy or playful or childish or conjoined. Most of them are single-layered, and their representative works are rice sand swallows, tube-type palace lantern kites, etc. There are three well-known schools of techniques: Jin Zhongfu, who is famous for his bold modeling, bright and rich colors, and strong decorative meaning and for his black sand swallows; Ha Guoliang, who is famous for his well-selected materials, sturdy and flat skeleton, and exquisite and unique painting work, and for his "kite ha"; and Ha Guoliang, who is famous for his regular and neat modeling, and Ha Guoliang, who is known for his "kite ha". Ha Guoliang and Ma Jinben, who is known for his regular shape, elegant colors, lively patterns, and exquisite details, and for his "thin sand swallows".

Tianjin kites: Also known as Jinmen kites, most of them are assembled and can be disassembled and folded. The colors are bright and contrasting, and the shapes and patterns show the symbolic patterns of Yang Liu Qing New Year's Paintings, which are quite characteristic of folk art. Tianjin kites are especially famous for the "Flying on the String", "Delivering Rice", "Puzi", "Heavenly Kites" and "Heavenly Kites" made by Wei Yuantai of "Changqing Zhai" Zacai Shop. "The most famous", "the heavenly maiden scattered flowers". Its works are fresh, bright and gorgeous, especially the representative work "gongs and swallows" kite, which is very suitable to be put at the height of dozens of meters, with blue sky and white clouds, and the effect of looking up is very good, so "gongs and swallows" kite won the silver medal at the Panama Universal Exposition in 1915, and won the "Wei Wei Kite" award. The kite won a silver medal at the Panama World's Fair in 1915, and won the name of "Kite Wei".

Weifang kites: According to legend, during the pre-Qin period, Mo Zhai lived in Lushan (the area of Weifang, Shandong Province today) and "chopped wood for harriers for three years". According to this, the prototype of kites was introduced in Weifang, Shandong Province 2300 years ago. Weifang kites began in the Ming Dynasty and became famous in the middle of the Qing Dynasty. Every time around the Qingming Festival, Weifang became a nationally famous kite trading market. A poem says: "The kite market is on the east wall of the city, the visitors are busy buying and choosing kites, the patterns are new to attract customers, and the butterflies are lined up in rows." It was enough to reflect the fire of Weifang kite market in those years. Weifang kites have the difference between literati kites and artists' kites. Literati kites are mostly from the hands of literati, elegantly painted, with far-reaching meanings; artist kites usually utilize and absorb the characteristics of Yangjiabu woodcut New Year's Paintings, with delicate painting, exquisite tie work, beautiful modeling, and high and smooth flying, with a strong sense of life and local flavor. In the annual Weifang International Kite Festival, Weifang long string of big dragon kites is the most eye-catching, the blue sky and white clouds, an oriental dragon flying in the air, head high and tail, double eye rotation, the dragon mouth also bloomed a colorful flowers, that attitude as long as roar, like Shi Wei, swimming in space, the viewers are not moving, not leaping and cheering. This kite has now become a domestic and foreign collectors compete to buy and collect the popular good.

Jiangxi kites: Jiangxi kites are mostly made of tile kites. The so-called tile kite is made of three bamboo strips tied into a skeleton, two of which are crossed on the rectangular paper, the other is placed horizontally at the top in the shape of a bow, and the lower end is added with three bands. Its low cost, simple modeling structure, bold and bright colors, quite popular with enthusiasts. Jiangxi flying tile kites have a long history of more than 600 years, its image in Jingdezhen burned Yuan, Ming Dynasty blue porcelain more often.

Jiangsu kites: there are many kites in Jiangsu, almost all over the province, and the kites in Nantong and Rugao are famous all over the world. Nantong kites are very large, and because the shape is like a board, so it is called Nantong board harrier color map kites. Their shapes are square, rectangular and polygonal. In the old days, people installed whistles on the harriers, and the buzzing sound shook the sky and the earth. Nowadays, every time before and after the Qingming Festival, under the blue sky of the river and the sea, the kites of different sizes are more spectacular than the whistles of the high flying competition. Rugao kites are famous for being small, and their representative works are swallows, geese, eagles, butterflies, goldfish and beauties, etc., which are not coincidental, especially a row of nine geese and thirteen geese kites are the most famous. Its structure is exquisite and reasonable, and it is unique. In addition, in Suzhou, Changshu, Kunshan, Dongtai and other places are also prevalent in flying a kind of kites containing gourds.

Sichuan kites: also known as Bashu kites, which are mostly based on beauty, Buddha, dragonflies, eagles, geese, butterflies, etc., and large for the expensive; there are also kites in lesser shape, but often in strings of three to five, people stand on the ground and look up at the sky, and what they see, full of swaying kites, such as a flock of sheep swinging their tails, and the viewers are all clapping their hands.

In addition to the above special kites flown around the Qingming Festival, there are also kites flown in the fall in Guangdong, Fujian, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and there is still a time difference between the mainland and the minority kites, as well as foreign kites evolved from Chinese kites, etc.

There are also a lot of kites flown in the fall in Guangdong, Fujian, Hong Kong and Taiwan.