CHINA PICTORIAL  2024-4  Excerpt No.2

Weaving a New Life for Old Fabric

Text by Chong Yatu Photos courtesy of JANCHO

A still from Wing Chun, an epic dance drama featuring both Chinese martial arts and gambiered Guangdong gauze.

01

February 9 marked Chinese New Year's Eve this year. That evening, many of the 1.4 billion Chinese people crowded around televisions to watch the CCTV Spring Festival Gala with their families. At 11:20 p.m., a 5-minute episode from the dance drama Wing Chun lifted the gala to its climax. Audiences marveled at the skills of the dancers performing Wing Chun and were also impressed by their exquisite costumes. The costumes were made of a traditional silk fabric dubbed “soft gold” — gambiered Guangdong gauze. The fabric was produced by the dance drama's sponsor JANCHO.

02

JANCHO is a famous cultural brand in the Chinese fashion industry. In recent years, it has presented a slew of unique cultural products featuring gambiered Guangdong gauze, a national intangible cultural heritage item. The material has been seen in clothes, souvenirs, and aesthetic designs. Since its establishment nine years ago, JANCHO flourished largely thanks to gambiered Guangdong gauze as it has explored a new path to revive this intangible cultural heritage through commercial models.

03

Rescue Efforts

The Sky Mirror on the 80th floor of the Shenzhen Bay Intelligence Center in Shenzhen Bay Super Headquarters Base is the highest open-air viewing platform in Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province. From the platform 360 meters above the ground, one can enjoy a 360-degree view of the entire city. In late January 2024, a fashion show devoted to gambiered Guangdong gauze there attracted attendance from diplomatic envoys of more than 40 countries. The fashion show was an important component of the event “China in the Eyes of Diplomats — Diplomatic Missions Visit to Guangdong.”

A fashion show spotlights vivid colors of gambiered Guangdong gauze.

04

Dozens of JANCHO costumes made of gambiered Guangdong gauze with elegant Eastern flavor and internationalized design were unveiled at the fashion show, stirring up thunderous applause. The fusion of traditional gambiered Guangdong gauze and modern urban landscapes stunned attendees. Hua Chunying, assistant minister and spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, posted on X (formerly Twitter): “Enjoying the ‘Fragrant Cloud' silk amid the clouds, with a bustling metropolis beneath you — what an experience!”