WorldSkills Spotlights Shanghai's Cultural Craft

Credit: Ti Gong

Caption: Foreign participants tour the 48th WorldSkills Competition "Shanghai Gifts" licensed merchandise zone.

Two simultaneous displays at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) in Qingpu District are showcasing Shanghai's intangible cultural heritage at the 48th WorldSkills Competition.

The interactive heritage bazaar "Hundred Crafts Collection" and the "Shanghai Gifts" licensed merchandise zone showcase Shanghai's urban culture, heritage treasures, and craftsmanship spirit, revealing contemporary haipai (Shanghai-style) intangible cultural heritage.

Credit: Ti Gong

Caption: Shanghai's intangible cultural heritage display draws foreign participants.

The "Hundred Crafts Collection" displays about 200 works across 10 booths from more than 20 intangible cultural heritage institutions and inheritors.

It features premium heritage workshops and municipal-level representative artworks from 2025 and 2026, with static exhibits, craft demonstrations, and master-led exchanges.

Silk embroidery, black pottery, yellow wine brewing, colorful lanterns, wood carving, gold-inlaid gem setting, Chinese formal attire, and shadow puppetry are popular with overseas visitors.

The exhibitions include Mid-Autumn Festival rabbit lanterns. Heritage inheritors will demonstrate their expertise to visitors.

Visitors can explore traditional Chinese handicrafts and learn how old crafts relate to modern vocational skills.

Credit: Ti Gong

Caption: Foreign participants explore Shanghai's intangible cultural heritage.

Shanghai silk embroidery blends the ancient kesi weaving technique with modern photographic lighting aesthetics, merging Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) painting aesthetics with contemporary tastes on a single embroidered surface, while Meihua silk carpet integrates crystal craftsmanship with traditional weaving, turning flat carpets into three-dimensional "soft sculptures" that define a new haipai craft style.

The "Shanghai Gifts" zone combines displays, retail, and interactive experiences. It features more than 162 product categories, including handcrafted heritage items, landmark souvenirs and cultural stationery.

A WorldSkills-themed quilling artwork depicts competition mascots Neng Neng and Qiao Qiao and the National Exhibition and Convention Center's iconic "Four-Leaf Clover" architecture.