Shandong Culture

Kite-making helps city soar

(China Daily) Updated: 2015-08-21

Kite-making helps city soar

Weifang World Kite Museum, the largest kite museum in the world. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Covering total floor area of 8,100 square meters, the museum has a design that resembles the dragon-head centipede kite, the most famous Weifang kite pattern. The roof is made of blue glazed tiles with a ceramic dragon in the ridge, and the walls are covered in white mosaic patterns.

Built in 1987, the museum has more than 1,000 kites in its collection, most of which have been flown. They represent different schools of kite-making in both China and overseas regions such as the United States, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia.

One of the largest kites in the museum is about 140 meters long and features 108 portraits connected by a string, which are based on the characters in the Chinese classic novel Outlaws of the Marsh. The kite was first flown in 1985.

The smallest exhibits are no more than 5 cm long and visitors must use magnifying glasses to see them clearly. These miniatures use the same materials, techniques and patterns as the full-size models.