Li Jiayun’s bamboo fish tanks

As an old saying goes, you cannot fetch water with a bamboo basket. However, in Huixiang Village, Yiliang, Yunnan, a bam-boo weavercan make bamboo fish tanks that do not leak at all. They are not just beautiful, butalso are practical and bring with them great economic benefits.

boo fish tanks, was born in a family of bamboo weavers. Upon graduation from junior high school, he began to engage in the production of bamboo products. He even uses a bamboo to make teacups. Experienced in bamboo weaving for 40 years, Li Jiayun can makes almost anything out of bamboo. In his courtyard, you can see all sorts of exquisite bamboo articles, including fruit plates, 

flower baskets, sewing boxes and even bamboo cups. 

There are more than 80 fami-liesin Huixiang Village, and most of them make bamboo articles. Among them, Li’s family is the most famous amond them and he is the sixth generation inheritor of the family business. Brought up in a bamboo-weaving family, Li Ji-ayun began to show a keen interest in the family craft when he was a little boy. Later, he devoted him-self to making bamboo products, and has now become an inheritor of this intangible cultural heritage. Li Jiayun is especially good at making bamboo fish tanks. Unlike his usual bamboo goods, the fish tanks hold water and are perfectly watertight. During the Yunnan Cultural Industry Expo in August 2013, a businessman offered to trade his BMW for one of LiJi-ayun’s bamboo fish tanks, but the artist refused. “I won’t sell it for millions. It takes more than 100 different steps to make, and is the result of decades of effort, but that cannot be measured by money.” He has made only few bamboo fish tanks, which he carefully keeps and exhibits only on major occasions.

Li Jiayun does not sell the bamboo fish tanks for any amount because the raw materials are hard to secure. A bamboo fish tank con-sists of eight layers, and the out-ermost layer must be watertight. “The master cuts bamboo strips and the apprentice weaves them into objects.”To make a bamboo fish tank, it takes more than ten procedures just to process the bamboo strips, after which they become smooth and transparent. If you cover a page of newspaper with these strips, you can still read the words underneath. 

In 2006, the famous Japanese bamboo weavingmaster, Yagi, came to China to teach bamboo weaving skills. When he came to Yunnan, Yagis elected 25 bamboo weavers who had at least ten years of experience. Li Jiayun stood out and became Yagi’s only Chinese disciple by “obtaining the true spirit”. 

Li Jiayuns bamboo fish tanks

As an old saying goes, you cannot fetch water with a bamboo basket. However, in Huixiang Village, Yiliang, Yunnan, a bam-boo weavercan make bamboo fish tanks that do not leak at all. They are not just beautiful, butalso are practical and bring with them great economic benefits. boo fish tanks, was born in a family of bamboo weavers. Upon graduation from junior high school, he began to engage in the production of bamboo products. He even uses a bamboo to make teacups. Experienced in bamboo weaving for 40 years, Li Jiayun can makes almost anything out of bamboo. In his courtyard, you can see all sorts of exquisite bamboo articles, including fruit plates, flower baskets, sewing boxes and even bamboo cups. There are more than 80 fami-liesin Huixiang Village, and most of them make bamboo articles. Among them, Lis family is the most famous amond them and he is the sixth generation inheritor of the family business. Brought up in a bamboo-weaving family, Li Ji-ayun began to show a keen interest in the family craft when he was alittle boy. Later, he devoted him-self to making bamboo products, and has now become an inheritor of this intangible cultural heritage. Li Jiayun is especially good at making bamboo fish tanks. Unlike his usual bamboo goods, the fish tanks hold water and are perfectly watertight. During the Yunnan Cultural Industry Expo in August 2013, a businessman offered to trade his BMW for one of LiJi-ayuns bamboo fish tanks, but the artist refused. I wont sell it for millions. It takes more than 100 different steps to make, and is the result of decades of effort, but that cannot be measured by money. He has made only few bamboo fish tanks, which he carefully keeps and exhibits only on major occasions. Li Jiayun does not sell the bamboo fish tanks for any amountbecause the raw materials are hard to secure. A bamboo fish tank con-sists of eight layers, and the out-ermost layer must be watertight. The master cuts bamboo strips and the apprentice weaves them into objects.To make a bamboo fish tank, it takes more than ten procedures just to process the bamboo strips, after which they become smooth and transparent. If you cover a page of newspaperwith these strips, you can still read the words underneath. In 2006, the famous Japanese bamboo weavingmaster, Yagi, came to China to teach bamboo weaving skills. When he came to Yunnan, Yagis elected 25 bamboo weavers who had at least ten years of experience. Li Jiayun stood out and became Yagis only Chinese disciple by obtaining the true spirit.