The Guangzhou municipal government held a meeting on Oct 12 to announce the eighth batch of Guangzhou representative intangible cultural heritage (ICH) projects, of which five of the 48 selected projects came from Haizhu district.

The five projects from Haizhu were the legend of jasmine flowers, the technique of making Cantonese Poon Choi, the technique of making Cantonese lamb casserole, paper-cutting (Haizhu), and the technique of making Xia Sangju.

The legend of jasmine flowers is said to have originated in Lingnan folklore commemorating Suxin, a court eunuch in the Southern Han Dynasty. Boasting a history of over 1,000 years, the legend of jasmine flowers evokes the elegance and generosity of jasmine flowers, paying tribute to the character of people in Lingnan.

There are several styles of paper-cutting in Haizhu, including single-color paper-cutting, color-cutting, and three-dimensional paper-cutting, with the most popular production methods divided into cutting and carving.

The technique of making Cantonese Poon Choi is a traditional food preparation technique in which various ingredients are cooked using Cantonese cooking techniques like boiling, frying, pan-frying, stewing, roasting, and steaming. They are then stacked in a certain order in large pots.

A chef makes Poon Choi. [Photo/WeChat account: gzhzfb]

The technique to make Cantonese lamb casserole is a traditional food preparation method in which lamb and ingredients are stir-fried and cooked using a Cantonese cooking technique with a secret sauce.

Cantonese lamb casserole. [Photo/WeChat account: gzhzfb]

The technique of making Xia Sangju is a kind of herbal medicine made from medicinal materials, mulberry leaves, and wild chrysanthemum, with the ingredients carefully selected, blended, and decocted.

Xia Sangju. [Photo/WeChat account: gzhzfb]