Illustration: Hang Dachuan/Global Times

The kites in Weifang never disappoint. Every year the Weifang International Kite Festival amazes visitors and netizens with innovative kites, as "paper birds" of unimaginable designs keep appearing in the sky.

This year, tigers, whales, deep-sea monsters a hundred meters long, and even Qin Shi Huang the First Emperor of China were flying through the air. The most memorable ones included a giant aircraft carrier and China's Tiangong space station, which literally docked with a capsule in the air.

Some people say the flying objects at the 40th Weifang International Kite Festival reminded them of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York, but only hundreds of times bigger in scale and crazier.

The origin of kites can be traced back to the Warring States Period (475BC-221BC) when the great Chinese philosopher Mozi in the State of Lu (part of today's Shandong Province) made the first "wooden kite." 

Kites didn't actually begin to flourish until the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). By the middle of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), artists specialized in kite making began to appear in Weifang. As early as the 1930s, a kite festival was held in the city. In 1984, the first Weifang International Kite Festival was held. In 2006, the Weifang kite making technique was inscribed in the first batch of items on China's national intangible cultural heritage list.

In 2023, 622 kite artists from 59 countries and regions participated in the event. There were a variety of activities, including daylight and night kite shows, a kite flying competition, kite-themed creative artworks exhibition and intangible cultural exhibition, fashion and light shows, and an online metaverse event.  The 19th World Kite Championships was also held at the event. 

During the festival, visitors were amazed by the many spectacular and innovative kites on display. The longest one was a 280-meter-long Chinese dragon kite, while a 175-meter-long centipede kite took several people to control it while it was flying across the sky. Another giant kite, this one a whale, had to be flown by a team of a dozen men.

Many kites contained elements of traditional Chinese culture. The 50-meter-long kite of a phoenix was something special, together with the seventh fairy from Chinese legend and flying Buddhist apsaras.

Compared with previous festivals, the 2023 event was highlighted by many innovations by both veteran and young kite makers. 

Zhang Xiaodong, 74, is a national intangible culture inheritor of Weifang kites. He has attended all 40 festivals. In the early days, he only brought traditional kites to take part in the competitions, but in the last 10 years, he has paid more attention to innovation. This time, he applied sound, light and electricity to make the fairy tale of Chang'e flying to the moon come "alive." 

Using their rich imagination, some young fans enraptured visitors with their kites. A kite of a "high-speed train with 50 cars" was seen "driving" in the sky. This 150-meter-long kite made by a young kite artist and his team within half a month gave full play to their imagination. Another kite, a long chain of "squids," seemed to take visitors to a "sea world." Also joining the parade was a mermaid, Batman, and Mr Black.

The event really offered a visual feast for visitors. As one netizen put it, "There is nothing that cannot fly."

Moreover, the international significance was also embodied in this festival. A fan created a kite to wish for the success of the 2024 Paris Olympics, which won a lot of applause from foreigners on site.

"I have collected many good wishes and signatures from foreign friends here. I want to bring smiles and wishes to Paris and the world at large through my kite," he said. 

The Weifang kite festival is not only a platform to share kite-making skills, but also a means to enhance friendship between people from different countries. The innovative kites presented in 2023 brought many pleasant surprises to kite lovers all over the world, and will bring the people of China and other countries closer.

Veteran kite maker Zhang also took this opportunity to meet with kite lovers from Japan, South Korea, Singapore and other countries. 

"No matter how far away kite lovers go, there is always a 'thread' in their heart that can pull them together."