Yixing purple clay artwork. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Wuxi has been carrying out intangible cultural heritage protection work for 14 years, following the three principles of "protection according to law, scientific protection and effective protection".

To date, Wuxi owns a total of 195 (including expansion projects) cultural heritage projects, including 11 on the national list, 51 on the provincial-level list, 133 on the municipal-level list and 94 on the county-level list.

Wuxi has formed the basic echelon of intangible cultural heritage protection with 249 inheritors which are above the municipal level, including 6 national-level inheritors, 27 provincial-level inheritors, 263 municipal-level inheritors and 153 county-level inheritors.

Wuxi keeps focusing on the promotion of the publicity platform of intangible cultural heritage. Its official WeChat account has reached annual clicks of about 180,000 views.

Attaching great importance to the discovery and management of intangible cultural heritage items and the training of inheritors, Wuxi has given priority to national projects such as the Huishan clay figurines, Wuxi embroidery, Liuqing Bamboo Carving and Wuxi opera.

Wuxi frequently carries out series of salvage digital protection works and has completed the digital collections of several national-level inheritors and seven intangible cultural heritage items such as Wuxi Huishan clay figurines, Wuxi embroidery, Wuxi Taoist music, Wu songs, Wuxi Pingqu and Yuqi winemaking skills.

The collections of provincial-level items such as skills in the making of Wuxi dishes, Wuxi paper joss and Yuqi dragon dance are ongoing.

Wuxi has popularized intangible cultural heritage items in almost 100 schools at all levels and developed various courses featuring Wuxi elements.