TAIYUAN, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) — Although launched to China from the Middle East, the artwork of glass-blowing has taken root in an historical Chinese county and advanced right into a vibrant specialty trade.
In Qixian County, north China’s Shanxi Province, glass-blowing has not solely built-in deeply into trendy trade but in addition preserved cultural heritage and achieved world attain because it upgraded its industrial chain.
Tian Jian, director of the Qixian County Jin Merchant Culture Research Institute, mentioned that the county’s reference to glass-blowing started by way of the “tea road” pioneered by Shanxi retailers in the course of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911).
While buying and selling throughout Eurasia, they introduced again glass merchandise and blowing strategies from Syria and different areas. After greater than a century of growth, Qixian has grow to be China’s core manufacturing space for hand-blown glassware, accounting for over 60 p.c of home output. More than 70 p.c of its merchandise are exported to over 80 international locations and areas worldwide. Qixian can be a serious supply of blown glass imports for Middle East international locations, in accordance with Tian.
Beyond manufacturing, native glass enterprises have established intangible cultural heritage expertise facilities, attracting major, secondary and college college students to affix examine excursions, thereby selling and preserving this historical craft.
Beside a 1,300 levels Celsius furnace, waves of warmth wash over the workspace as artisans wield two-meter-long blowpipes, skillfully turning glowing molten glass into delicate cups and vessels by blowing, rotating and pulling. Children collect round, watching intently, and gasping in awe now and again.
This vivid scene unfolds on the examine tour classroom in Qixian’s Honghai Glass Cultural Industrial Park. The immersive heritage expertise makes the thousand-year-old craft accessible. Students watch promotional movies on glass-blowing, discover shows of beautiful glass artifacts, and be taught concerning the craft’s evolution.
Shanxi Qixian County Honghai Glass Co., Ltd., a famend hand-blown glassware firm, has innovated whereas preserving custom. Using distinctive strategies like hand-applied shade coating, patterned stems and shade mixing, its independently developed stacked-color approach has earned a nationwide patent. The firm creates merchandise aligned with Arab aesthetic tastes, efficiently coming into Middle East markets.
Li Jiansheng, the corporate’s chairman, famous that the corporate integrates manufacturing, exhibitions, and cultural tourism, working a 3 A-rated cultural industrial park and a heritage exhibition corridor. It receives round 100,000 guests and college students yearly, providing reside blowing demonstrations, DIY classes and glass portray, reworking historical expertise into tangible cultural experiences.
Xizun Glass, a number one firm positioned a couple of km away from Honghai, highlights the high-end worth of handicraft. With over 500 expert glassblowers, Xizun blends a long time of expertise with youthful innovation. General Manager Zhang Wenlei mentioned that by masterful “blowing, rotating, pulling and pinching,” every bit turns into each useful and creative.
In 2019, a sequence of Xizun’s glass merchandise was acknowledged by a style journal as a notable light-weight luxurious model. Its hand-blown goblets promote for two,000 yuan (about 288.19 U.S. {dollars}) to three,000 yuan every in European and American markets, shattering the stereotype of glass merchandise as “low-end and cheap.”
While preserving the essence of handicrafts, Qixian’s glass trade can be embracing technological innovation. Addressing the inefficiency and excessive power consumption of conventional manufacturing, Xifulai Glassware Co., Ltd. pioneered Shanxi’s first clever manufacturing line for borosilicate glassware.
Wang Naiwei, with the corporate, defined that three such traces can produce 32 gadgets per minute, with a day by day output exceeding 70,000 items, doubling conventional handbook capability whereas decreasing labor prices by 8 p.c. Sales income grew 7.5 p.c yr on yr in 2025, demonstrating the transformative influence of good manufacturing.
Products are actually offered in over 20 international locations and areas, together with the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, Japan and the Republic of Korea.
Today, Qixian has constructed a full industrial chain centered on 62 glassware producers, supported by over 230 upstream and downstream enterprises. Out of the county’s 249,000 residents, 30,000 are engaged in glass-blowing. Since 2024, 11 new native corporations have begun self-operated exports, with many increasing amenities or including manufacturing traces.
The county actively helps 5G-enabled good manufacturing upgrades and an built-in 5G+web system, and has established 11 digital transformation mannequin enterprises.
Moreover, a national-level glassware high quality inspection heart has been established in Qixian, giving it a stronger voice within the trade. A devoted glass trade academy trains craftsmen and live-streaming skills, injecting new power into the craft.