The former Zhadong town (now Tangzha Street) in Gangzha district, Nantong city, East China's Jiangsu province, is famous for the banyao, a large and flat whistling kite with a hexagonal frame adorned with exquisite decorations and vibrant colors. 

Over the centuries since the banyao was first created, craftspeople have sprung up all over the district to create them. Yao Jianqiang is one of these craftspeople.

Yao is dedicated to researching the whistling kites, which are part of the city's culture, and he is passionate about passing on the skills to make them to new enthusiasts. 

Yao makes whistles out of gourds for a whistling kite, Feb 19. [Photo/ntgz.gov.cn]

Born in January 1966, Yao was deeply influenced by his grandfather and father who were also kite artists and craftsmen skilled at making the Nantong folk art product. He was eager to learn the skills required to make the kites and learned them from his father while he was still at school.  

And Yao has even taken his passion overseas, participating in kite-themed cultural events in France and Malaysia. Indeed, some of his creations are currently on display in Nantong Museum, Yangjiang Kite Museum, and in France and Switzerland. 

In 2015, Yao was recognized as a skilled banyao artist by Nantong, and in 2018, he went to Shanghai to teach more than 50 college students his skills.

But Yao is not stuck in his ways. He constantly strives for innovation, traveling to different cities for seminars with other skilled craftspeople.

Yao Jianqiang, an expert at making the banyao, a type of whistling kite, is photographed with a dragon-shaped creation in his Gangzha district studio, Feb 19. [Photo/ntgz.gov.cn]

In Yao's studio, there is a 120-meter-long dragon kite which was jointly produced with expert kite artist Xie Chunsheng from Harbin, Heilongjiang province. It took them more than half a year to finish the huge whistling kite combining features common in North and South China.

In addition to traditional paintings themed around ancient Chinese tales and novels, Yao also includes scenes from everyday life. As for the materials he uses for his kites, he favors low-cost and light carbon fiber tubes for the frame, layering the surface with computer-printed colored cloth. 

And while his kites may look delicate and bulky, he designs them so that they can be folded, making them easy to carry. 

The craftsman hangs whistles on one of his kites, Feb 19. [Photo/ntgz.gov.cn]

The beautiful and creative kites with simple whistles, unique shapes and sounds have won Yao an unrivaled reputation, along with many international awards. 

Today, the craftsman produces over 30,000 whistles and dozens of kites each year, with his work exported to France and Southeast Asia. 

My daughter is currently studying how to make these kites, and I want more people in the younger generation to know our artistic traditions, he says. 

And with kites as beautiful as the ones that Yao makes, it would be a tragedy if this ancient art was lost.