Gifts of Guangdong keep on giving

The cultural tourism brand Guangdong Gifts recently announced its official 2025 list of selected products, along with a batch of its 2026 items, during the 22nd China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province.

Through standardization, systematization, and branding, the brand aims to lead the overall development of Guangdong's cultural and creative industry.

The five-day cultural fair, which ran from May 21 to 25, showcased achievements in cultural industry development, attracting 6,312 online and offline exhibitors, with more than 120,000 cultural products.

Government officials, design experts, inheritors of intangible cultural heritage, and enterprise representatives attended the Guangdong Gifts brand event.

Guangdong Gifts launched cultural and creative products that include Cantonese embroidery, ceramics, and huajuhong (the dried outer peel of Citrus grandis Tomentosa), deeply integrating intangible cultural heritage with modern craftsmanship.

A major highlight of the product lineup is elegant handbags made of xiangyunsha — a traditional fabric from China's Lingnan region — showcased by models on stage.

Dubbed the "soft gold of Chinese textiles", also known as gambiered Guangdong gauze, xiangyunsha undergoes complicated procedures and uses 100 percent plant-based dyes. Its dyeing and finishing technique was inscribed on the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2008.

"These handbags combine elegance and practicality, perfect for daily use," said Ouyang Fengting, an inheritor of the technique.

She said traditional xiangyunsha fabric features one side in black and the other in coffee brown. When used in clothing and other cultural and creative products, this color palette is popular among young people.

What's more, this fabric has special properties, including moth resistance and eco-friendliness. It is ideal for close-fitting garments and is gentle on the skin.

"The Guangdong Gifts brand is a significant platform for helping intangible cultural heritage practitioners reach general consumers and for promoting the traditional handicraft through these products," she said.

Official statistics showed that during the May Day holiday, Guangdong received about 47.07 million tourist visits and generated tourism revenue of 29.8 billion yuan ($4.39 billion). In 2025, the province welcomed nearly 960 million tourist visits, with total tourism revenue reaching 1.24 trillion yuan.

Experts believe it is essential to explore how to offer visitors lasting, portable memories and how to intensify cooperation among sectors such as cultural tourism, manufacturing, design, and intangible cultural heritage.