Jianggu Hall in Dongxi Alley: A Must-Visit in Guilin, Where Making a Round Fan Showcases Elegance

Guilin round fans truly deserve their status as an intangible cultural heritage!

A young woman is teaching tourists how to make round fans.

Encountering Intangible Heritage: Dozens of fan ribs carved from a single bamboo, a round fan carrying Chinese traditional culture. Text and photos by Liu Guoxiong.

History is the root of a city, culture its soul. Guilin is one of the first 24 nationally recognized historical and cultural cities in China. With a history spanning over two thousand years, Guilin’s unbroken cultural reverence has never ceased, and traditional culture has never stopped nourishing the city’s development. To understand Guilin’s culture, visiting Dongxi Alley is the best choice.

Now, Xiaoyao Tower, Dongxi Alley, and Jingjiang Palace form the Guilin historical and cultural tourism and leisure district, becoming a new landmark of Guilin.

In Zhengyang East Alley within Guilin’s Dongxi Alley, there is a Jianggu Hall, which offers tranquility amid the hustle and bustle, a place of serene contentment. “Jianggu” in the Cantonese and Guangxi dialects means “storytelling” or “telling tales.” Originally, this Jianggu Hall was established to tell Guilin’s humanistic stories, inherit the historical lineage, and create a cultural forum.

However, Jianggu Hall now has a new meaning: it preserves Guilin’s intangible cultural heritage. Here, visitors can learn to make round fans and understand this intangible cultural heritage, making a trip to Guilin worthwhile.

In December 2018, the “Guilin Round Fan Making Technique” was included in the autonomous region’s intangible cultural heritage project list. Entering Jianggu Hall, many round fans are displayed, featuring portraits, animals, festive motifs, Zhuang brocade, and landscape patterns. The colors are rich but not garish, exuding a retro charm. Holding a round fan truly showcases one’s elegance.

The key is that at Jianggu Hall, visitors can learn how to make round fans. A pretty young woman teaches on-site. Following her, I found that making a good round fan is not difficult; it just requires patience and careful adherence to the steps. Of course, I say it’s simple because we only learn the final steps. The hardest part is making the fan frame, which is the most complex process. Generally, bamboo is soaked and reinforced with special materials, then sliced into thin strips with a blade to weave the fan frame. Dozens of small ribs are split from a single bamboo. What we do is glue rice paper, cotton cloth, or silk printed with ancient poems, landscape paintings, or figures onto the frame, then cut and edge it to create a round fan that carries Chinese traditional culture.

After half an hour of work, I also made a round fan and happily took it home.

Guilin’s Dongxi Alley has a Jianggu Hall.

The Jianggu Hall is antique and elegant.

Inside, it’s entirely a wooden building.

Guilin round fans featuring Zhuang brocade and paper fan surfaces.

Very elegant round fans.

At a glance, you can tell they are antiques.

The director of Jianggu Hall tells the story of Guilin round fans.

Before making the fan, choose your favorite fan surface; there are many options.

Which one would you choose for a fan surface?

The fan ribs are pre-made.

On top are tools for making round fans: glue, scissors, brushes.

I think the painting of two goldfish would make a nice fan surface.

The young woman teaches: first apply glue to the fan surface.

Then attach the fan ribs, aligning the dozens of small ribs neatly.

Then stick on another white paper fan surface.

Use a brush to press along the rib lines until both sides are firmly attached.

Then take out a fan-shaped template and draw a circle.

Cut along the drawn line.

I started making my round fan.

Brother Zhu came to sneak a lesson.

After cutting, edge it. Once edged, it becomes a beautiful round fan with a retro charm.

I’m very happy holding my self-made round fan.