Modern-Day Marco Polo: Apprenticeship in Traditional Chinese Crafts--Dongyang: The Lantern Lights Up

2024 marks the 700th anniversary of Marco Polo’s passing. In this year, Alessandro Martini, a young man from Milan, Italy, performed in the dance theatre Invisible Cities, portraying his idol Marco Polo.
His Chinese friends affectionately call him Alex. Alex has longed for coming to China ever since he heard about Marco Polo’s story in elementary school. He started to learn Chinese in high school. Several years later, he finally came to this fascinating Eastern country and stayed for eight years.
Over the past eight years, Alex has travelled to most parts of China and thrilled to discover that the mysterious Chinese intangible cultural heritage is a collection of Chinese wisdom and techniques that can be touched and learnt. So, as the modern-day “Marco Polo”, he will visit some uniquely charming cities to learn traditional Chinese crafts and explore local youth-run shops and museums from young inheritors of intangible cultural heritage, thus sharing these fascinating Eastern techniques with everyone.
Alex travelled to Dongyang in Zhejiang province to learn how to craft lanterns. In Italy, whenever people talk about fire, they often think of the famous three active volcanoes. While in China, they think of lanterns. Lanterns carry the life philosophy and aesthetic tastes of the ancient Chinese people, representing their yearning for a better life full of humanity. The lanterns are a tangible expression of the Chinese positive and healthy mindset.

[@vesperhu4958]

Dongyang's traditional lantern craft illuminates centuries of artistic mastery, blending delicate craftsmanship with vibrant cultural symbolism.

[@Jing-t2o]

What a nice video! Know a lot more about Chinese culture

[@RebaccaYi]

It's a difficult technique, but the work is beautiful