Weifang

Weifang has made kites for centuries, particularly in the village of Yangjiabu, where the same workshops also produce woodblock New Year prints, and the craft uses split bamboo frames with painted silk or paper in traditional forms: centipedes tens of metres long, butterflies, swallows and figures. Since 1984 the city has held an international kite festival each April, which draws teams from dozens of countries and has made Weifang the seat of the International Kite Federation. The World Kite Museum, built with a roof shaped as a dragon-headed centipede kite, holds a large collection of kites from China and abroad. Yangjiabu village nearby demonstrates both crafts.

History

More than 1,800 ancient sites have been found around Weifang, from the Beixin culture to Longshan settlements, and the Dongyi people of the Neolithic lived along its rivers. At the start of the Zhou dynasty King Wu made Jiang Ziya Duke of Qi with his capital at Yingqiu, in today's Changle; in 106 BC the Han set up the Qingzhou Secretariat here, under the Eastern Jin the Southern Yan made Guanggu, now Qingzhou, its capital, and the area became an early centre of Buddhism, leaving hoards of Buddhist statues such as those of Longxing Temple (Wikipedia, Weifang).

The main sights

• The kite festival - international teams flying in April on the city fields.
• The World Kite Museum - collections from China and abroad in a dragon-shaped building.
• Yangjiabu village - workshops making kites and woodblock New Year prints.
• The traditional forms - centipede, butterfly and figure kites in bamboo and silk.

When to go

April for the festival, which is the reason most visitors come; outside it the museum and workshops operate year-round but the city is an ordinary industrial centre. Festival week fills accommodation.

Things to know

Outside April there is little atmosphere beyond the museum. The festival is spread across sites and can be hard to follow without local information. Weifang itself has limited other attractions.

Nearby

Qingdao lies east; Jinan is west.

Key facts