The Qidong Blue Calico Art Museum, also named the Wu Yuanxin Blue Calico Art Gallery, will open to the public in July. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

Qidong – a county-level city administered by Nantong in East China's Jiangsu province – will open a museum in July for the conservation and display of its signature blue calico.

Blue calico is a kind of traditional printed-dyed handicraft originating in the southern areas of the Yangtze River, with a long history that can be traced back to the Qin (221-206 BC) and Han (206 BC-220 AD) dynasties. The most famous blue calico is made in Nantong.

The art museum is divided into seven sections that showcase the origin, development history and technological process of blue calico – decorated with blue, white and gray, which are the main colors.

The more than 300 exhibits were donated by Wu Yuanxin, a local master of Chinese arts and crafts who was included in the first group of inheritors of national intangible cultural heritage – those officially charged with passing on the craft to future generations. Wu is also head of the Institute of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Nantong University and the curator of the Nantong Blue Calico Museum.

Visitors going to the museum can experience the aesthetic sensibilities of local artists and also get an insight into the people of Qidong's pursuit of a better life.