Liuqiao town integrates Party design elements into kites, during its 25th kite festival. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

Liuqiao town – in the Tongzhou district of Nantong city in East China's Jiangsu province – held its 25th kite festival on April 12.

The event had four themed areas – focusing on its economic achievements, kite flying safety, learning about the Communist Party of China's history and rural revitalization.

Liuqiao town is famous for Chinese folk culture and art, especially the technique for making the Nantong-style banyao whistling kites. Workshops from inside and outside the town all came to the festival to sell their kites on the day.

"This is a kite specially designed to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. The patterns on the kite are the standard ones issued by the nation," said Shi Guhua, president of the Liuqiao town kite association.

According to Shi, the association has more than 180 registered members and Liuqiao is home to at least 2,000 kite enthusiasts. The association reportedly found the festival to be useful in publicizing the Party's history, by integrating its design elements into the kites.

Wu Yulin, a resident living in Zhendong community, bought two medium-sized banyao whistling kites at the event. He said that he would fly the kites all year round, as long as there was wind. His grandfather and father both like flying kites and he started making and flying kites as a boy.

Yu Haitao is an inheritor of the Nantong-style banyao kite-making technique, which is one of the city's intangible cultural heritage items. His kites have exquisite patterns and euphonic whistling sounds, making them the most popular among the town-folks. Moreover, his kites are also sold around the world.

Wang Mengqi, a member of the Party history learning and education group in Tongzhou, came to the event to help with publicizing the CPC's history.

Chen Jianfeng, Party committee secretary of Liuqiao town, said that the culture of banyao kites should be explored and passed on to future generations.

Chen added that the development of a cultural industry using kites as a theme should be promoted, providing an effective way for locals to further promote both the Party's history and education in the town.