The "Touch Shandong" activity for international visitors to experience traditional Chinese culture was recently held at Kuanhouli in Jinan, east China's Shandong province.

A young couple from Russia, took part in the activity to learn how to make paper rose and crochet.

Liu Yi, head of the Wanmei Handicraft Culture and Art Salon, gave a brief introduction of the salon. Ms Zhang, a key member of the salon taught the young couple how to make a paper rose.

Ms Zhang took out some paper specially designed for rose-making, then demonstrated how to cut a petal out of the paper and finally taught the couple how to paste all the petals into a rose.

"The charm of handicraft lies in its uniqueness. The same work made by different people has different style. The mass-produced artwares are the same, with no soul", said Ms Zhang.

"Unfortunately, there is little prospect for the development of the handicraft art. If we want it be carried forward, the experience activity might be a good breakthrough," said Liu Yi. She said she opens the salon not for making money but aiming at carrying the tradition forward.

"I have come to Jinan for a long time, but I didn't know such a wonderful place. Here I can have an intimate touch with traditional Chinese culture," Nikita said excitedly. Nikita's grandma loves making handicraft. He said his grandma would be very happy if she could see her grandson doing it. Russia also has various kinds of handicrafts but they are totally different from that of China.

The "Touch Shandong" activity for international visitors to experience traditional Chinese culture is recently held at Kuanhouli in Jinan, east China's Shandong province. [Photo/sdchina.com]