On June 11, Suzhou, Jiangsu province, launched the 2026 Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Summer Shopping Month, a month-and-a-half-long event designed to connect traditional culture with contemporary consumers. Centered in the historic Pingjiang Road neighborhood, the event showcases more than 1,200 activities nationwide aimed at revitalizing China’s intangible cultural heritage through innovation and interactive experiences.

One notable attraction on Pingjiang Road featured an unusual take on the city’s noodle culture. At a booth run by entrepreneur Zhou Jing, visitors encountered plush fabric replicas of Suzhou’s signature noodle bowls, complete with soft, fuzzy toppings. The installation offered guests a chance to engage with local culinary terms—such as kuan tang (extra broth) and zhong mian (extra noodles)—through role-playing interactions, blending cultural education with playful engagement.

Zhou, formerly a travel business owner specializing in European tours, redirected her focus to local heritage products after the 2020 pandemic halted international tourism. Based in Suzhou’s old town, she developed collectible merchandise inspired by the city’s food traditions, including plush noodle bowls and pastry-themed items, sometimes combining features like card holders and integrating popular formats such as blind boxes. Since the release of the latest designs in early 2025, her products have seen growing market success. Collaborations with established local brands, such as Renchangshun—a traditional pastry maker with over two centuries of history—have further expanded the range of culturally rooted collectibles.

Zhou’s efforts reflect a broader trend across China’s cultural heritage sector, where entrepreneurs and inheritors are adopting innovative strategies to preserve traditional crafts, foods, and folklore. The 2026 shopping month itself emphasizes themes such as “ICH plus designer toys,” “ICH plus fashion,” and “ICH plus technology,” underscoring the importance of modernization in cultural preservation.

Consumer data supports this shift. According to Meituan, one of China’s largest online service platforms, searches related to nationally recognized intangible cultural heritage foods surpassed 18 million in 2025, marking a 34 percent increase from the previous year. Concurrently, orders from heritage-related vendors rose 140 percent, with two-thirds of interest coming from consumers aged 20 to 35. This suggests a growing demand for heritage experiences that blend authenticity with accessibility and interactivity.

Further north in Zibo, Shandong province, municipal inheritor Yang Zhi is employing similar innovation in the realm of traditional soft pottery. Yang gained national attention in 2024 with Long Dada, a playful dragon character that challenges traditional aesthetics. Her latest work, “Scruffy Pony” (Ma Biaobiao), draws inspiration from a late Qi Baishi painting and features a dynamic, clay-bodied horse with a mane made from wool of the Tan sheep. The sculpture’s distinctive attributes encourage user interaction, allowing owners to style and decorate the mane in collaboration with the artist, a process Yang terms “co-creation.”

Developed with input from the Beijing Fine Art Academy, the pony’s name, originally a colloquial term from the Shandong dialect, originated among internet users and was adopted officially by the studio. This participatory approach extends beyond product design, fostering an evolving cultural intellectual property that now spans keychains, apparel, and accessories.

Yang emphasizes the importance of emotional resonance in heritage preservation. “Intangible cultural heritage is about the warmth of the hand, the sedimentation of time, the power of healing, the possibility of co-creation,” she said, highlighting the ongoing evolution of traditional culture in the digital age.

Both Zhou’s and Yang’s projects illustrate how Chinese cultural heritage is being reimagined for a new generation by blending historical authenticity with creative innovation, providing pathways for traditional arts and customs to engage more deeply with modern audiences.