Luo Songsong

    Songsongluo@126.com

    THANKS to global bestseller “The Kite Runner,” Afghanistan’s history of kite-running is wellknown around the globe. But few people in China realize that the craft has been passed on for more than 2,500 years.

    Yu Hao, the 39-year-old chairman of Shenzhen Kite Association, is an inheritor of the Chinese intangible cultural heritage and hopes to bring the traditional craft onto a worldwide stage.

    One simple kite

    In Yu’s hometown in Jilin Province, nearly all families went outside to fly kites made with bamboo strips, newspaper, white glue and scissors to celebrate the coming of spring when he was young.

    Yu said his grandfather was an excellent craftsman who taught him how to make his first kite at the age of 7.

    “I had been dreaming of one day making a nice kite myself, as he had done 1,000 times, just like you desire to cook your favorite dish after tasting it so many times,” Yu said.

    After preparing bamboo strips for the kite’s frame, along with silk and paper for its sail, Yu fastened string to the frame with high hopes. But he was unable to fly the kite high in the sky and had to start all over again.

    “The craftsmanship is harder that it appears to be, and requires a great deal of skill in framing, gluing and symmetry. Using correct symmetry is the most important skill,” he said.

    After middle school, Yu turned to practicing calligraphy and painting, and spent less time making and flying kites. But his interest rekindled when he went to college.

    New styles

    In Beijing, Yu was surprised and excited to find that residents were fond of flying kites that looked more refined than those made in his hometown, using better bamboo and paper. He began to wonder how to make such a high-quality kite.

    To achieve his goal, he joined a kite club on campus, met some master craftsmen in Beijing and learned how to make an exquisite kite.

    Yu said it was only then that he learned that kites are geographically classified into four types: Beijing kites, Weifang kites, Tianjin kites and Nantong kites.

    Generally, Yu said, he now uses xuan paper from Beijing, a traditional Chinese calligraphy paper; bamboo from Sichuan Province; and a special kind of strong string from Taiwan to make a high-quality, exquisite kite.

    “Kite-making and -flying has become an art form, involving elaborate and colorful decorations in the shapes of animals, birds, flowers, calligraphic characters and other Chinese cultural images,” Yu said.

    He said his favorite shapes are birds such as the martin, butterflies and Chinese characters such as fu and xi, which represent fortune and happiness, respectively. Yu said he’s also considering how to create kites with local characteristics.

    “I am trying to make the world’s smallest kite, as tiny as fingertips, with native images of the kapok, the cuckoo and different migratory birds that can be found in the Mangrove Natural Reserve,” he said.

    Yu said Shenzhen is a creative and dynamic city, and believes flying kites will prosper in the city again as residents’ creativity flourishes.

    Reviving a tradition

    Yu recently has been toying with kite innovations by exploring different kite materials, appearances and methods, such as painting with Chinese ink, because he thinks the ancient craftsmanship should not, and will not, disappear.

    “Making a kite requires time and patience, but people are distracted by modern technology and are not willing to devote themselves to a thing that can’t bring them wealth,” he said.

    With its long coastline and mild weather, Shenzhen is regarded as a “kiteable” city in China and has hosted annual international kite-flying and kite-surfing festivals in cool seasons.

    “It is a magnificent scene when the blue canvas (of the sky) is filled with numerous flying kites,” he said.

    Kite-surfing originated in Hawaii and involves a large kite propelled by wind that pulls a kite surfer on water on a kiteboard. The sport has been adopted as an optional competition event in the 2016 Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

    Yu said he enjoys it when hundreds of thousands of kite enthusiasts from all over the world gather in one place. He believes such activities can revive enthusiasm for kites in Shenzhen.

    “Selling kites doesn’t work any more, but promoting the idea that lying on the beach and watching kites overhead is a desirable relaxation could make it possible,” Yu said.

    By holding competitions and organizing training classes, Yu hopes the traditional culture can take hold in younger generations. He said his ultimate life goal is to make more and more people fall in love with the craft.

    To realize his dream, Yu has put aside his job as a lawyer and thrown himself heart and soul into kites by planning more activities in Shenzhen.

    “Selling kites doesn’t work any more, but promoting the idea that lying on the beach and watching kites overhead is a desirable relaxation could make it possible.”

— Yu Hao, the 39-year-old chairman of Shenzhen Kite Association