Brief information on Flower-Printed Blue Cloth Workshop  

Chinese flower-printed blue cloth is well-known throughout the world, and Wuzhen is one of the principal source areas of the blue print cloth. The Hongyuantai Workshop, established in the Song Dynasty (960-1126), was originally situated in Nanzha, and latterly relocated to its present location. This was principally because Wuzhen was the manufacturing base of blue print cloth and also an important distribution center of flowed-printed blue cloth products at that time.

Blue print cloth, commonly referred to as “embossed blue cloth”, is a Chinese traditional folk handicraft, with a history of about 1,000 years. Legend has it that this craft was originated by a farmer for his wife and quickly became popular among the local populace due to its low cost and high quality. The material cloth and dye, as well as the manufacturing craft are all originated in countryside, and, as a result, the patterns of the blue print cloth are full of intense local colour, while the  and subject matter usually depicts such countryside motifs as lowers, grass on the side of farmhouse and rice fields. Blue print cloths are natural, fresh and clean and, along with the elegant blue and white colours, make the product vibrant and original, often   outshining other folk arts and crafts. Local people strictly follow the original methods of production and design to this day, from design, dermatoglyphic patterning, embossment, dyeing, to insolation when printing and dyeing the blue print cloth itself. Such adherence to the original manufacturing craft means that it is as beloved today as it was at its inception.

*You can download the bilingual note to show it to a taxi driver or someone else to find your way to Flower-Printed Blue Cloth Workshop if you plan to visit Flower-Printed Blue Cloth Workshop and have language problems.

   

Location: Wuzhen, Tongxiang City, Zhejiang Province
Admission: CNY 60