Shell mosaics of Qingdao

Shell mosaics in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province, were developed to explore and preserve Chinese time-honored traditional arts.

Records indicate that people learned to inlay various kinds of decorative articles from shells on different objects, creating the earliest trumpet shell inlaying technique, as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty (1100-771BC). In the early 1960s, Qingdao developed shell mosaics on the basis of this kind of inlaying technique and set up the Qingdao Shell Mosaic Plant, continuously improving the craft.

Among the various shell mosaics of Qingdao, the painted screen "Princess Wencheng Entering Tibet" is the most famous. There are 84 painted human figures on this 3-meter-long and more than 2-meter-wide screen, including civil and military emissaries and the honor guard from the Tang (618-907) empire sending off the princess, and others from Tubo (present-day Tibet) welcoming her. The entire mosaic is very compact in terms of arrangement, with clear space levels and brilliant colors that create an ardent atmosphere and vividly reappear in the grand scene depicting Princess Wencheng entering Tibet.

Shell mosaics produced in Qingdao feature a unique style with a novel picture arrangement, handsome composition and bright colors. In 1982, the city walked away with second prize during a national shell mosaic competition. Its outstanding works were subsequently exhibited in more than 10 countries, including Japan, Britain, Germany, France and Kuwait, winning a favorable response. Currently, shell mosaics produced in the city sell very well in over 60 countries and regions around the world.

Shell mosaics of Qinhuangdao

Shell mosaics in Qinghuangdao city of North China's Hebei Province are made of spiral shells collected from the beach. The handicraft is based on traditional spiral-shell inlaying skills.

Incorporating elements from ivory- and woodcarving, craftsmen from the Qinhuangdao No 1 Arts and Crafts Plant have formed their own unique style, producing various bold and witty scenes, such as towering peaks, old cypresses and pines, floating clouds and flowing waters, magnificent palaces and pavilions that are full of poetic primitive simplicity.

The shell mosaic "Beidaihe River Fisherman's Song," for example, assembles all of the green waters and hills, scenic spots and historical sites along the river into one picture.

The works produced here cover subjects ranging from flowers, birds and grass, to characters from some classical novels and plays.

Shell mosaics at Qinhuangdao boast refined techniques and beautiful decorations. They are created by hardworking craftsmen who make use of the shell's natural colors, grain and shape to cut, polish and inlay them according to the design requirements.