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.
Chongqing has also arranged more than 30 related activities, including themed drone and light shows, a heritage-themed cruise and a promotional caravan parade. Heritage experiences are being connected with scenic areas, hot springs and theaters. At the same time, consumption promotions and livestreaming sessions featuring heritage-inspired products seek to bring traditional culture closer to the market.
Yang Erlang, known as the "one-handed batik artist", carefully paints traditional Miao patterns onto cloth at the exhibition. She worked with Cheng Hao, a fellow Miao batik inheritor from Danzhai county in Guizhou province, on several pieces. After losing her right hand in an accident at 40, Yang returned to the craft in 2009 and has continued making batik. Her granddaughter, Hou Shuyan, who grew up watching her work, is now studying fashion design and hopes to follow in her footsteps.
For Cheng, the patterns painted on cloth are more than decoration. They carry stories and memories passed down through generations.
Batik has a history of more than 2,000 years in China, Cheng says. The Miao tradition was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage items in 2006.
The process begins with beeswax extracted from natural honeycombs. After melting it, artisans apply the wax to fabric with a specialized tool called a wax knife, which lets them draw intricate patterns by hand.
The cloth is then dyed with indigo extracted from a local plant. Areas covered with wax resist the dye, while the uncovered sections turn blue. When the fabric is boiled, the wax melts away, revealing white patterns against a blue background.
"People of the Miao ethnic group traditionally had a spoken language but no written script, so many of the patterns in our batik represent words and stories passed down from generation to generation," Cheng says.
Bird motifs are particularly prominent in the Miao communities around Danzhai, which Cheng says fascinate overseas audiences.
Elsewhere, a 720-degree immersive presentation blends Dazu Rock Carvings, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Chongqing, and Dazu stone carving, a traditional craft recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage. It also features scenes from a narrative relief at the Dazu site, bringing its historical and cultural significance to visitors through digital technology.
The exhibit is part of a technology-themed section covering nearly 1,200 square meters and featuring 11 installations. The organizers have designed the displays as a continuous visitor experience, combining immersive screenings, interactive installations and demonstrations of traditional techniques.
"We want people to be able to understand, experience, and share intangible cultural heritage," says Wang Dong, manager of the tech exhibition's arrangement.
Many aspects of traditional craftsmanship and cultural memory are difficult for inheritors to explain fully through words alone, while technology offers another way to bring these traditions closer to the public, he adds.
Other displays use infrared-based interaction, a digital loom to demonstrate silk weaving, and AI-powered image recognition to engage visitors with traditional patterns and artwork.
Yet, Wang emphasizes, the most important thing is to respect the culture.
"Technology changes every day, but culture has its own continuity and nourishment," he says. "Only when we understand the culture can we use technology to truly serve intangible cultural heritage."
