China explores folk art market

China's rich treasure of folk art is not only a precious cultural legacy, it's also an important economic resource. For years, the Chinese Folk Artists Association has toiled to help underdeveloped villages and counties to explore the lucrative potential of their own folk cultures.

Hougou Village in northern Shanxi Province had been economically depressed for years. Its plantations and stock breeding are spare. Mineral resources are scarce. Per-capita yearly income had long been around 400 yuan, or 58 U.S. dollars.

Five years ago, experts from the Chinese Folk Artist Association arrived in Hougou to look around. They carried out a careful evaluation, then advised the local government to make the development of rural tourism a priority.

The ancient village opened as a tourist attraction two years ago. The traveling public has responded enthusiastically.

Significant numbers are being drawn by the village's unique folk culture and traditional ways of life. At the end of 2007, local villagers' yearly average income had grown to more than 5000 yuan more than 10 times what it was just a few years ago.

In Wei County of Hebei Province, the tiny art of paper cutting helps to swell the fortunes of local people. Paper cutting has a history going back hundreds of years in Wei County. But until not long ago, people there considered the art nothing more than a trivial handicraft.

In 2003, the Chinese Folk Culture Association launched a project to try to save and protect the declining art of paper cutting.

Dozens of experts traveled from village to village, helping local folk artists to realize their artistic potential and to exploit the economic value of their craft.

In the short time since, Wei County paper cutting, has becoming celebrated for its delicacy and originality. Works from the community are selling worldwide.