Shanghai plans to add chopsticks to Intangible Cultural Heritage list   

上海将为筷箸习俗申遗 用筷历史至少3000年

“筷子是中国人发明的一种独特的用餐工具，简单、平凡的筷子蕴含着中国人对生活、文化、礼仪方面的丰富内涵，但筷箸文化在现代社会的影响日渐式微，亟待加以研究、保护和弘扬。”上海筷箸文化促进会会长徐华龙说.[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- An organisation has drawn up measures to add chopsticks to the Shanghai Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2015, Xinhua reported on Sunday.

The move aims to raise awareness regarding the culture behind the use these utensils, according to Shanghai Chopsticks Culture Promotion Association.

Xu Hualong, chairman of the association, said chopsticks are increasingly neglected in modern China although they are unique Chinese items.

China's neighbor Japan attaches great importance to protecting chopstick culture and has set aside August 4 as Chopstick Day, Xu noted.

Lan Xiang, curator of a chopsticks museum in Shanghai, explained that China has a recorded history of using chopsticks for over 3,000 years.

Chopstick culture in Shanghai dates back to the Tang Dynasty (AD618 -- 907), during which time these items, made in the City God Temple area, enjoyed widespread acclaim.

After opening as a commercial port, Shanghai boasted the first mechanized production line for chopsticks, which were supplied to Zhongnanhai and Diaoyutai State Guesthouse as well as gifted to foreign friends.

At least 1.8 billion people currently use chopsticks worldwide.

Chopsticks, though small, serve as a means to pass on Chinese civilization, said Cai Fengming, deputy secretary general of East Asian Culture Research Center, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

Cai believes that recognizing the cultural value of the custom matters much in promoting Chinese traditions.