Suzhou is a famous kernel carving base in China and the largest and most prestigious place is Zhoushan village.
Around the year 1930, tooth carving artist Yin Genfu turned to olive kernel carving, and the kernel-carved bracelet of the Eighteen Arhats spread its fame at Yong Xing Zhai in Shanghai. In the 1970s, Zhoushan village formed the kernel carving plant and more and more local villagers picked up this craft. It is learnt that there are about 520 kernel carving studios or exhibition halls at Zhoushan village today, more than 3,000 people are engaged in this business, and its annual sales volume is around RMB300 million. Nowadays almost all the 180-plus households in Zhoushan village are engaged in kernel carving production.
To better protect and inherit this intangible cultural heritage, Zhoushan village has invested RMB130 million in renovation and upgrade since 2012, and has built a series of facilities such as the Suzhou Kernel Carving Gallery, realizing a business layout integrating tourism, kernel carving appreciation, shopping and catering.
