Jinan is breathing new life into its rich intangible cultural heritage (ICH) by engaging younger generations and finding new ways to preserve and develop traditional crafts.

Jinan is home to a diverse range of ICH resources, including one item inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, 13 national-level items, 132 provincial-level items, and 564 municipal-level items. To safeguard its legacy, the city has built a multi-level support system to strengthen talent cultivation in cultural inheritance.

A key part of this effort is the Jinan ICH university alliance, established in 2024. Bringing together nine local universities, including Shandong University and Shandong Normal University, the alliance promotes resource sharing and talent development. It has organized more than 50 campus events, introducing nearly 10,000 students to traditional arts such as shadow puppetry, tin carving, and dough figurine making. The city has also expanded cultural education for younger children through immersive workshops featuring traditional knotting, egg carving, and face-mask painting.

Innovation has become an important driver of cultural revitalization. The fourth Jinan ICH creative design competition attracted more than 2,500 entries, encouraging participants to combine traditional craftsmanship with contemporary design, fashion, and digital technology. The result has been a growing range of creative products that bring traditional culture into modern life.

Beyond classrooms and competitions, Jinan has strengthened public engagement through ICH fairs and targeted support programs. University experts in design and cultural management are paired with heritage bearers to help improve product development, branding, and market outreach.

These efforts are already producing tangible results. People under the age of 35 now account for 38 percent of the city's ICH practitioners and participants. Many young inheritors are exploring new business models, including 25-year-old Zheng Yongqi, who turned her passion for ronghua, or velvet flower making, into a successful brand, demonstrating how traditional crafts can thrive in the modern marketplace.