Beijing Silk Flower

Special: Decoding the Culture Genes of China

Most flowers only bloom in spring, but in Beijing there’s one kind that can last forever - the Beijing silk flower.

It’s one of China’s national-level intangible cultural heritage items, adding more color to people’s life.

In China, silk fabric of different colors was used, over 1700 years ago, to make floral hair pins.

Legend has it that one of the Four Beauties of ancient China, Yang Guifei (719-756), always decorated her hair with flowers.

In winter, she would use flowers made of silk.

The Beijing silk flower became popular in the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) over 700 years ago.

The silk flowers have been used in various rituals and ceremonies including memorials, weddings and birthday parties.

The making of Beijing silk flowers involves quite complicated processes.

A variety of silk fabric is made into different parts of the flowers which are then glued together to form a beautiful bouquet.

These elegant chrysanthemums, exquisite azaleas and ethereal plum blossoms are all made by skillful Beijing silk flower artisans, who create beauty that is everlasting.

Today, more than 2000 types of Beijing silk flower have been created.

These dainty silk flowers decorate people’s life in winter with vibrant and vivid colors, symbolizing the hope of spring.