Visitors tour the 2023 Yellow River Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo at the Shanxi Xiaohe International Convention Center. [Photo/Yellow River News] 

The 2023 Yellow River Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo, co-hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Shanxi Provincial People's Government, opened in the provincial capital Taiyuan on Nov 7, aiming to promote the development of the Yellow River civilization. 

The expo, which runs until Nov 11, serves as a platform to showcase representative projects of agricultural civilization intangible cultural heritage from nine provinces and autonomous regions along the Yellow River. 

It consists of two main sections of the Yellow River agricultural civilization and wheat-made food culture. The former presents the past, present, and future of Yellow River intangible cultural heritage through three sub-sections. The latter exhibits traditional intangible cultural delicacies from nine provinces and autonomous regions along the Yellow River, representative projects of traditional intangible cultural heritage, traditional brewing techniques, and wheat-made food culture and traditional craftsmanship from Shanxi. 

The 7,200-square-meter exhibition area displays over 600 representative intangible cultural heritage items related to agricultural civilization in the nine provinces and autonomous regions, allowing visitors to experience the unique charm of rural customs along the Yellow River through immersive scenes and market-style presentations. 

In addition, more than 300 representative inheritors of intangible cultural heritage items have been participating in the expo with their representative works. 

Located in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, Shanxi has nurtured a splendid civilization. It boasts 182 national-level intangible cultural heritage items and 149 national-level representative inheritors of these cultural heritage items, ranking among the top in the country. 

In recent years, the province has strengthened the protection of intangible cultural heritage, promoted the integration of culture and tourism, and encouraged the creative transformation and innovative development of intangible cultural heritage.