Era · Old Tianjin

Stop 1 · Haihe Dock

Where nine rivers meet

Tianjin grew rich on the Grand Canal trade. Here many rivers flow together into the Haihe, and the boats that came and went carried crafts and stories along with their cargo. The first volume of The 5000-Year Metaverse unrolls from this dock.

• Gatherrecord the steps
• Translatetry it yourself
• Pass onkeep the flame alive

Stop 2 · Kite Sky

Swallows in the blue

Tianjin kites (the swallow kite, or shayan) are known for four arts — framing, covering, painting and flying: fine bamboo frames, hand-painted silk, and some even fold up into a box to take with you. Above the river fly swallows, butterflies and a long dragon-headed centipede.

Stop 3 · Yangliuqing Print Workshop

One cut, one block, one colour

Yangliuqing New Year woodblock prints are national intangible cultural heritage: outlining, carving, register printing and hand painting, unbroken for four hundred years. Come and print your own “Abundance Year after Year” (lián nián yǒu yú).

Stop 4 · Quyi Teahouse

Clack the clappers, loud and clear

Crosstalk, clapper talk (kuaiban) and Tianjin ballads are the heart of Tianjin humour — what locals call “gén”. Take a seat in the teahouse, pour a pot of tea, and hear Yuanbao perform a verse of clapper talk.

1. Clack the clappers, loud and clear,
2. Yuanbao’s at the teahouse — gather near!
3. Yangliuqing prints, so red and bright,
4. clay figures so lifelike — a pure delight!
5. Swallow kites go soaring high,
6. old crafts handed down as the centuries fly.
7. Huaxia New Era, here we come —
8. bringing fine things to your home!

Stop 5 · Clay Studio

Shaped from clay, brought to life

Tianjin painted clay figurines (Clay Figure Zhang) use clay for the bones and paint for the clothes: choosing the clay, modelling, drying, polishing, then painting stroke by stroke — one figure can take months. The bare clay figure on the turntable is waiting for you to paint it.

Stop 6 · Craft Market

Old crafts for every home

Heritage doesn’t only live in display cases. These pieces borrow the patterns and processes of New Year prints, clay figurines, kites and folk performing arts, bringing the crafts back into daily life (design concepts; final products may differ). Click an item on the stalls, or pick a category below:

• Ruirui the Ink Lion · Leaping out of the Painting (scene figure)Designer figure

  The temple fair begins, and Ruirui pounces out of the old ink scroll Auspicious Lions: the painting is flat, and the lion grows more three-dimensional the further he leaps. Hand-painted resin on a scroll base, numbered limited edition of 500.

• Abundance Year after Year · Woodblock Print Gift BoxPrint gift box

  Four hand-registered Yangliuqing woodblock prints of classic subjects, with a Xia Yuanbao collector certificate.

• Xia Yuanbao · Painted Clay Lucky BoyClay figurine

  Hand-modelled and hand-painted in the Tianjin painted-clay tradition: Yuanbao hugging a carp and holding a lotus.

• Swallow · Hand-painted Bamboo KiteKite

  A Tianjin kite on a bamboo frame with hand-painted silk — fly it, or hang it on the wall.

• Carved-brick Pattern · Brass BookmarksStationery

  A set of three etched brass bookmarks with floral motifs from Tianjin carved brick.

• Clack! · Mini Bamboo Clapper KeyringFolk-arts gift

  A mini kuaiban clapper polished from real bamboo — a keyring that really clacks.

• New Era · Spring Festival Gift BoxSpring Festival box

  New Year prints, spring couplets, paper-cut window flowers and Yuanbao red envelopes — an old-Tianjin New Year in one box.

• Where Nine Rivers Meet · New Year Print Tea SetTea gift

  A tea caddy in New Year print patterns with a lidded gaiwan — a gift with a story.

• Yuyu · Embroidered Carp CushionXia Yuanbao merch

  Yuanbao's best friend Yuyu, with gold-thread scales — hug it for a year of plenty.

• A Day of Gathering · Four Treasures of the StudyStudy gift box

  A Huzhou brush, Huizhou ink stick, Xuan paper and Duan inkstone, with a Master Yuan label and a how-to booklet.

• Clinging Foam · Song-style Whisked Tea SetSong tea ware

  A Jian-ware style hare's-fur bowl, bamboo whisk, ewer and powdered tea — whisk a bowl of Song-dynasty tea at home.

• Hundred Marks · Incense Seal SetIncense ware

  A fret-pattern incense seal mould, ash, incense powder and a small censer — press a single unbroken line of seal incense.