On March 1, 2026, at the Zhaoqing Cantonese Culture Temple Fair, a unique performance caught everyone's eye—dancers gracefully moved to drumbeats, holding exquisite woven Yanglan baskets. The "Xinqiao Yanglan Baskets Harvest Dance" brought this ancient craft into contemporary life with a fresh new look.

At the intangible cultural heritage market, Yanglan baskets of various shapes—round, square, hexagonal, openwork—dyed in vibrant colors, shimmered in the sunlight. "So these are Yanglan baskets! We had a few at home when I was young," an elderly citizen remarked with nostalgia.

Xinqiao Town in Gaoyao District, Zhaoqing, has long been known for bamboo weaving. Yanglan baskets originated in the Xianfeng period (1850s-1861s) of the Qing Dynasty, pioneered by local artisan Deng Fu. Seeing strong demand, he returned home, opened a bamboo shop, and organized villagers to weave in large quantities. Named for their overseas destination, "Yanglan" literally means "export bamboo baskets."

After 1949, the foreign trade department set up a purchasing station in Xinqiao. In the 1980s golden age, 17 craft factories employed thousands of villagers, producing over 300 varieties exported to Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Yanglan baskets brought prosperity and embodied the collective memory of creating a better life through hard work.

In recent decades, market competition, substitutes, and technical limitations have hindered sales. More worryingly, aging craftsmen find few young people willing to learn. Product styles fail to meet modern tastes, urgently requiring innovation to revitalize the craft.

With the "Hundreds, Thousands, Tens of Thousands Project"—a provincial rural vitalization initiative—the Xinqiao Town Party Committee and Government, together with the village assistance task force, are exploring added value, integrating modern elements to create an "agriculture + cultural tourism" brand.

In 2023, the Gaoyao Yanglan Basket Cultural and Creative Park opened, receiving nearly 10,000 visitors annually. In 2025, Xinqiao Yanglan baskets debuted at the 137th Canton Fair—over 50 products sold out, receiving more than 5,000 intention orders.

From Deng Fu's pioneering work in the Xianfeng era, to overseas sales in the 1980s, and now appearing at the Canton Fair and the Cantonese Culture Temple Fair—the century-long journey of Xinqiao Yanglan baskets mirrors Zhaoqing's history of external exchanges.

Wang Shan, a member of the Xinqiao Town Party Committee, stated that the cultural park will cultivate more inheritors and explore "online + offline" models to bring new brilliance to this ancient craft.

The story of Xinqiao Yanglan baskets is one of departure and return—leaving to be seen by the world, returning to keep roots alive. Today, amidst rural vitalization and heritage preservation, Yanglan baskets are quietly reinventing themselves. In the near future, these century-old baskets—imbued with contemporary aesthetics and wisdom—will again travel the globe. Not as mere commodities, but as graceful ambassadors of Chinese culture.

Source | Zhaoqing Media Center