A small crowd gathers around a table at the ninth China Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo in Chongqing municipality, waiting for a chance to experience a traditional Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region healing technique.
Standing at the crowd's center, Lin Chen, a professor at the Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, takes a thin medicinal thread from a darkened glass container, lights it over an alcohol lamp and extinguishes the flame, leaving a glowing ember at its tip.
"It was made by soaking cotton thread in a mixture of traditional herbal ingredients," he explains.
He then briefly touches the thread to selected points on a visitor's body, applying the technique known as Zhuang medicated thread moxibustion.
The procedure takes moments, but curiosity continues. Some visitors watch closely, while others ask questions about the thread, the herbs used in its preparation, and the principles behind the treatment.
For Lin, such encounters have become a familiar part of participating in heritage exhibitions. "Visitors come not only to see the technique but also to try it themselves," he says.
"Some arrive with specific complaints, while others want to learn about traditional medical practices they never encountered before," he notes.
Recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage item in 2011, the technique was documented and developed in the Zhuang communities of Liuzhou, Guangxi. Lin says it has undergone more than 40 years of clinical observation and research.
According to him, his team has explored its use in treating more than 130 conditions. The team has demonstrated the technique at numerous exhibitions, offering on-site consultations and treatments for visitors and exhibitors.
Lin says it has brought relief to people suffering from headaches and has also been used to treat oral ulcers. Drawing on more than 20 years of clinical experience, he says the medicinal thread and its ash can ease pain and promote healing.
The practice has reached audiences beyond China.
"One of my students opened a Zhuang medicine clinic in Europe," he says.
For Lin, public exhibitions offer a significant opportunity to make traditional medical practices more accessible.
"These national heritage exhibitions provide a window for displaying, promoting, and passing on traditional medicine," he says.
The scene reflects a broader approach at this year's expo, which opened in Chongqing on Friday. Organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the event ran through Tuesday and brought together more than 890 intangible cultural heritage projects and over 930 inheritors nationwide.
It is the first time the biennial expo has been held in western China.
The displays cover a wide range of traditions, from traditional medicine and regional food to ethnic clothing and technology-enhanced craftsmanship. Beyond showcasing heritage items, the event seeks to demonstrate how traditional practices can remain relevant in contemporary life.
Making heritage more accessible and engaging is a major focus, says Gao Lin, director of the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism Development.
"We have focused on heritage protection and transmission while highlighting more everyday, immersive and youth-oriented ways of presenting it," Gao says.
