12 Culture special Wednesday, July 29, 2015 CHINA DAILY

Zhucheng: Where dinosaurs roamedBy ZHANG ZHAOzhangzhao@chinadaily.com.cn

While millions of peopleworldwide were stunned bythe dinosaurs created in theHollywood blockbuster Juras­sic World, fewer know of thereal world of the prehistoricgiants in Zhucheng county inWeifang, Shandong province.

Dinosaur fossils have beenfound at more than 30 sites inZhucheng, covering a total of1,600 square kilometers, whenthe total area of the county isonly about 2,200 sq km.

Dinosaur fossils were firstdiscovered in the region in1964. When prospectors fromthe former Ministry of Geolo­gy were looking for oil, theydiscovered fossilized dinosaurremains later identified asbeing from a Shantungosau­rus giganteus, the largest non­sauropod dinosaur yet found.

Following that there have

been three excavation pro­jects, the latest of which wasconducted in 2008, when amuseum for the Tyrannosaur­us, commonly known as T. rex,was built on a site wherearchaeologists found fossils ofthe Zhuchengtyrannus mag­nus, Asia’s largest and China’sonly tyrannosaur species.

Part of the original excava­tion site is exposed to visitorswith some 2,000 pieces of fos­sils that belong to four dino­saurs, including atyrannosaur.

Yan Tuanxiang, chief of themuseum, said both carnivo­rous and herbivorous dino­saurs had been identified atthe site, which means therecould have been a hunt takingplace before all were killed bya sudden mudslide.

Compared with T. rex,which usually draws the spot­light in movies, the real super­star in the museum is a fossil

of the Y. rex, or Yutyrannushuali, the world’s only foundtyrannosaur with feathers.

The Y. rex was about 9meters long and weighed 1.4metric tons. Its sharp teethand claws made it a nightmarefor its contemporary dino­saurs, Yan said.

The fossil, discovered in Lia­oning province, is seen as evi­dence that birds evolved fromdinosaurs.

In another museum, theZhucheng Dinosaur Cubic, 48restored dinosaur skeletonsare displayed, in addition topictures, models and videos.

The most valuable exhibitsinclude some ceratopsid dino­saur skeletons, said WangKebai, director of the Zhu­cheng Dinosaur CultureResearch Center.

The ceratopsid dinosaurswere believed to exist only inNorth America until 2008,when Chinese scientists dis­

covered fossils of the genus inZhucheng. They named themSinoceratops zhuchengensis.

Wang said the Chinese cera­topsid dinosaurs were ances­tors of their North Americancounterparts.

“Some of them traveledfrom Asia to North America,as the two continents wereonce connected,” he said.

Near the Zhucheng Dino­saur Cubic is the world’s larg­est dinosaur fossil site, wheremore than 10,000 fossils havebeen found in diggings 500­mlong and 26­m deep.

Based on this, the local gov­ernment is planning a newtourism area that will includeexhibitions and interactivedisplays. The project will takeabout 10 years to complete,Wang said.

The 2008 excavation alsofound more than 11,000 dino­saur footprints that date backsome 100 million years. The

site is not yet open to tourists.Dinosaur attractions in the

area welcome 500,000 visitorsa year, mostly children. Activi­ties are sometimes organized,such as simulated fossil exca­vations, dinosaur drawing and

model skeleton installation.“The dinosaur relics are

resources owned by all ofhumankind,” said the director.

He added that the govern­ment plans to cooperate withSteven Spielberg, producer

of the Jurassic Park movieseries.

“These breathtaking dino­saur sites will give him inspi­ration, and maybe the nextepisode of the story will hap­pen in Zhucheng,” Wang said.

The Zhucheng Dinosaur Cubic houses 48 restored dinosaur skeletons. JU CHUANJIANG / CHINA DAILY

Weifang invests inrich cultural heritageBy ZHANG ZHAOzhangzhao@chinadaily.com.cn

The hometown of many ofChina’s leading artists and cul­tural scholars including MoYan, the country’s first winnerof the Nobel Prize in Litera­ture, Weifang is a recognizedcity of culture whose govern­ment has been making effortsto improve local cultural andtourism facilities and services.

In the past century, local art­ists developed a unique schoolof calligraphy and painting,whose works can be found insome of the 2,000 galleriesacross the city. Today, Weifangis one of the most importantpainting markets in thenation.

More than 1,000 paintingexhibitions are held in the cityevery year. The annual Chi­nese Painting Festival, one ofthe most influential, attractedmore than 10,000 artworkslast year, with trade volumevalued at nearly 1 billion yuan($161.1 million).

A project in the Shihuyuanarea in the city center is one ofthe newest cultural attractionsin Weifang. Covering nearly 10hectares, the project has somebuildings that date back morethan 200 years, while newlyadded constructions havebeen built in the style of thesame period.

The complex combines artexhibitions and trade, tradi­tional displays and shoppingfacilities. It will house foodvendors, handicraft stalls andsouvenir shops when complet­ed by Oct 1, although part of itis already open.

A traditional­style stagestands behind the WenchangPavilion, a 22­meter­tall land­markinthearea,whereartper­formances have been shownevery evening since May 22.

About 50 cultural activitieshave been held in the area overthe past two months, includ­ing international paintingexhibitions, with all open totourists free of charge.

Du Gang, manager of thearea, said the local govern­ment spent 1.4 billion yuan onthe project, although the totalrent for business facilities inthe area is only expected tomeet half that investment.

“The government has neverwished to cover its investmentwith rent, because its true aimis to let the people enjoy thebenefit of culture,” Du said.

In Weifang’s Qingzhou

county, the 1.3­square­kilome­ter Songcheng area opened apainting and antique marketin 2012, which has become apopular tourism site.

The area not only boastsbuildingsandroadsbuilt in thestyle of the Song Dynasty (960­1279), a reminder of its mostprosperous period, but show­cases about 100 performersdemonstrating Chinese intan­gible cultural heritage items.

“We invited the masters tocome out of their homes toshow their skills at the site, notonly to attract more tourists,but also to promote the herita­ges by letting more people seethem and know them,” saidGao Lingyun, publicity chieffor Qingzhou.

Qingzhou Museum is Chi­na’s only top­level museumhoused in a county, and wel­comes about 300,000 visitorseach year.

One of its most valuable col­lections is an exam paperbelonging to Zhao Bingzhong,who in 1598 won the title ofzhuangyuan, an honor givento the scholar who achievedthe highest score at the high­est level of the Chinese imperi­al examinations.

It is the only original exampaper of a zhuangyuan pre­served on the Chinese main­land, on which Zhao wrote hissuggestions for the emperoron how to improve the man­agement of officials and thecountry.

The museum also has about4,000 items from the Xiang­shan tomb from the HanDynasty (206 BC­AD 220), ofwhich about 2,000 are on dis­play.

The tomb was discovered byaccident during a construc­tion project in 2006. The relicsdiscovered were dug out froman accessory pit, which meansthere could be even more trea­sures still buried in the maintomb chamber, said a guide atthe museum.

Other tourist attractions inWeifang include Yishanmountain in Linqu county, anational 5A­level tourism areawith a Taoist background, andthe archaeological sites andmuseums for dinosaurs inZhucheng county.

Kite­making helps city soarBy ZHANG ZHAOzhangzhao@chinadaily.com.cn

In Weifang, Shandongprovince, kites are not justtoys. They symbolize both cul­ture and an industry for thecity.

Widely known as the worldcapital of kites, Weifang has ahistory of flying kites datingback about 2,400 years.

Legends say that ancientChinese philosopher Mozimade the first kite in theworld in the Lushan Moun­tain area, which now belongsto Weifang. It is said that thekite, made of wood, took himthree years to finish but then fell and broke on the first dayit flew.

Others believe that the trueinventor of kites was Mozi’scontemporary Lu Ban, afamous craftsman and engi­neer who has long beenregarded as the patron saintof Chinese builders and car­penters. His kite, made ofwood and bamboo in theshape of a magpie, flew threedays before it fell, accordingto an ancient book.

A statue of Lu stands infront of the gate of the Wei­fang World Kite Museum, thelargest kite museum in theworld.

With a total floor area of8,100 square meters, themuseum has a design thatresembles the dragon­headcentipede kite, the mostfamous Weifang kite pattern.The roof is made of blueglazed tiles with a ceramicdragon in the ridge, and thewalls are covered in whitemosaic patterns.

Built in 1987, the museumhas more than 1,000 kites inits collection, most of whichhave been flown. They repre­sent different schools of kite­making in both China andoverseas regions such as theUnited States, Japan, SouthKorea and Southeast Asia.

One of the largest kites inthe museum is about 140meters long and features 108portraits connected by astring, which are based on thecharacters in the Chineseclassic novel Outlaws of theMarsh. The kite was firstflown in 1985.

The smallest exhibits areno more than 5 cm long andvisitors must use magnifyingglasses to see them clearly.These miniatures use thesame materials, techniquesand patterns as the full­sizemodels.

In addition to displays ofkites, the museum has histori­cal documents, models andvideos depicting the historyand culture of kites.

Even without wind, Li Nai­gang, vice­director of themuseum, can fly a kiteindoors. He does this per­formance with a speciallymade kite in the museumduring his spare time.

He said he first saw indoorkite­flying in 2007 by an over­seas team at the annual Wei­fang International Kite

Festival. He then spent morethan a year studying the tech­niques himself.

Hesaidthemuseumattractsabout 100,000 visitors a year.

“The museum is a windowthrough which we showcasethe kite culture from acrossthe world,” he said.

In Yangjiabu village, north­east of the Weifang city cen­ter, kites were originallybyproducts of local wood­block New Year’s prints, anational intangible culturalheritage item that dates backsome 600 years.

In the beginning, substan­dard prints were made intokites for children, and later,the bright colors and exagger­ated figures of the printsbecame popular features oflocal kites.

Yan Kechen has carvedwoodblocks for more than 40years and now demonstratesthe skill at Yangjiabu Folk ArtPark. He said his largest work

took three years to finish,while regular­sized blocksrequire about five days.

Another master, Yang Jun­you, has 50 years of experi­ence in printing. He said thetechnique he uses is the sameas that used 600 years ago,except for thepaint,which isamodern chemical product.

Although many people inthe village can make NewYear’s prints now, not allmake a living from it. Yan saidhe has had about 30 students,but only two of them havebecome masters.

The village produces about21 million New Year’s prints ayear, many of them sold tomore than 100 countries andregions overseas.

In contrast to Yangjiabukites that focus on craftsman­ship, kites made in the Wang­jiazhuangzi area highlightpracticality and industrializa­tion.

The community, compris­

ing four villages, was honoredas the Chinese modern kiteindustry base by the Interna­tional Kite Union this year. Ithasa totalpopulationof4,650people, about 2,200 of whomare involved in kite and kitecomponent manufacturingbusinesses.

There are more than 80 kitefactories in the area withannual production capacityof 80 million kites and reve­nue of 200 million yuan($32.2 million).

“Many local people canmake kites in the traditionalway, but the handmade kitesrequire much time and theprofit is low,” said Yuan Yan,chief of the community. “So20 years ago, we startedindustrial kite manufactur­ing.”

Yuan said an industry chainhas been formed in the area,with local companies special­izing in different parts of thekites.

Sun Yuemei, 39 years old,opened her own kite factory10 years ago after being aworker at another factory fortwo years.

Her factory hires 50 work­ers, all local farmers, in itsbusy season, which lasts fromNovember through May, andabout 30 workers the rest ofthe year.

It produces a maximum of10,000 kites a day during thebusy season, Sun said.

“The busy season of kitemanufacturing happens to bethe offseason on the farm,”she said.

Sun said the factory earnedrevenue of 2 billion yuan forthe 12­month’s ending thisMay, increasing from 1.5 mil­lion yuan a year earlier.

“People are increasinglyinterested in outdoor sports,”she said. “Flying kites com­bines Chinese traditionalhandicraft and outdoor sporttrends that are popular in theWest.”

She added that the designsof her kites are mostly tradi­tional themes, such as gold­fish and swallows, to avoidcopyright disputes.

The factory also makes cus­tomized kites and blank kitesso customers can add theirown designs.

Various kites are shown at the 2015 Weifang International KiteFestival in April. JU CHUANJIANG / CHINA DAILY

Workers at a kite factory in Wangjiazhuangzi area.ZHANG ZHAO / CHINA DAILY

A man flies a dragon­head centipede kite in a kite contest in Weifang, Shandong province, in April. ZHANG CHI / FOR CHINA DAILY

2,000art galleries

in Weifang

A visitor photographs a giant mural at the 2015 Chinese PaintingFestival in Weifang. JU CHUANJIANG / CHINA DAILY

The museum is a window throughwhich we showcase the kiteculture from across the world.”Li Naigangvice­director of the Weifang World Kite Museum

$32.2million

annual revenue from kiteindustry in Weifang’s

Wangjiazhuangzi area