The Jinling folding fan, a traditional handicraft from Nanjing, China, is a foldable fan made of bamboo or wood, with a cover made of tough paper or silk. It must be opened to form a semicircular shape, gathered at the head and loose at the tail; when folded, it forms a linear shape that can be tucked into the sleeve. It is both a practical item for cooling off from the heat and a work of art. Main varieties include bamboo, wooden, and silk palace fans. In 2009, it was successfully inscribed on the Jiangsu Province Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
The paper-cut work "Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix" presented to the Queen of England
Nanjing paper-cutting is primarily popular in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, and its surrounding areas. According to historical records such as "Baixia Suoyan," written by Gan Xi during the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty, Nanjing paper-cutting was already very popular in the early Ming Dynasty. In the 1950s, Nanjing folk paper-cutting cooperatives and folk craft factories were established, producing and exporting paper-cuts. Nanjing paper-cutting has a distinctive character, blending the unconstrained style of northern paper-cutting with the delicate refinement of southern paper-cutting. Flowers within flowers, themes within themes, roughness within refinement, and a sense of ingenuity within the clumsy, resulting in an artistic form of exceptional beauty. Traditional Nanjing paper-cutting varieties include wedding flowers, douxiang flowers, door paper, and embroidery patterns, including shoe flowers. The "douxiang flower" paper-cutting is unique in China. Nanjing paper-cutting is created without a draft; the lines flow seamlessly, like a single stroke, seamlessly executed, demonstrating exceptional artistry.