BEIJING, March 8 -- Though Shanghai is decked with round lanterns, they are not the authentic elongated southern lanterns that originated in the Hangzhou area. Those lanterns are handcrafted of bamboo and shaped like cylinders - but time-consuming lantern-making is a dying craft, writes Yao Minji.

During traditional festivals like the Chinese New Year, the Lantern Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival, red lanterns are hung along streets, in parks, department stores and restaurants to add to the ambiance of happiness.

However, even many locals don't realize that the round lanterns they see in Shanghai are in fact northern-style, the same type that Zhang Yimou used in his famous film "Raise the Red Lantern." And regional southern-style lanterns used in the royal court of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) are disappearing.

The difference is that the authentic southern lanterns are handcrafted of bamboo; they are often cylindrical and can take many shapes. Making lanterns was an ancient craft, and not all of them were red.

Modern lanterns are mass-produced, many are round, with a wire frame covered with synthetic fabric.

"I'm already over 80. My son doesn't want to learn the craft of making lanterns and I have no apprentices. I guess nobody will carry on my craft after I die," says Yu Zaolei, a southern lantern expert. He was invited to Shanghai from Hangzhou, capital city of neighboring Zhejiang Province, for a Lantern Festival celebration organized by East Dawning and the Oriental Morning Post.

The southern-style lanterns are also known as the Xixing lanterns, named after the neighborhood, specially known for making lanterns in ancient times.

Compared with the common round lanterns of wire that are mass produced today, the Xixing lanterns are still completely handmade from flexible bamboo threads, easy to shape yet difficult to make.

The lantern makers first decide the width of the bamboo according to the type of lantern to be made. Then different pieces, sometimes soaked in water to make them pliable, are woven together to make the shell or framework of the lantern - this is much more difficult than working with a metal framework.

The next stage is carefully pasting thin paper to the bamboo framework. The lantern is finished after it is painted with two coats of oil, making it translucent and water-resistant.

The tale goes that many salesmen and travelers in ancient times had to pass by Xixing and they would buy lanterns to light their way. Hence, the lantern business boomed in the town and neighboring villages. Gradually, the lanterns from the remote town spread across the whole country and even into the imperial court.

According to Hangzhou's records, more than 1,000 years ago all the women in neighboring Xixing were making lanterns for a living. Lanterns utilized different kinds of bamboo, took different shapes and were sold everywhere.

Even 50 to 60 years ago, when Yu and his wife Xia Zhentuan had just started making lanterns for a living, it was still popular for young people to learn the craft.

"Now, many young people in the area go to big cities to make money. They could make much more than by making lanterns. And the ones who do master the craft, like my wife and I, are very old and many quit," says Yu. "Even for us, lantern making is just a part-time job. We too used to go to cities to make money because we couldn't make a living only by making lanterns."

Today, fewer than 50 people in the area know how to make Xixing lanterns and more than half of them are over 70 like Yu and Xia.

In 2005, the Xixing lantern was listed as a protected folk art and cultural heritage.

However, mere "protection" might not be enough way to save the disappearing craft. More commercial uses should be explored.

(Source: Shanghai Daily)