Shengzhou is often referred to as the “home of bamboo” and many beautiful pieces of weaving art have been produced from the town. Shengzhou is located in the east of Zhejiang Province. Zhejiang Province is known as the weaving region of China.

It is believed that bamboo weaving was introduced to Shengzhou over two thousand years ago in the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). Throughout the centuries, bamboo weaving has progressed from making objects for practical use to creating works of art which have earned the town high accolades. Now established as a traditional folk art, Shengzhou bamboo weaving is practiced by many in the town and skills are passed on from generation to generation.

There are twelve main categories in which Shengzhou bamboo weaving can be sorted into. They are baskets, pans, pots, boxes, bottles, screens, animals, human figures, buildings, furniture, lamps and utensils. There are more than six thousand designs with many categorized as official art.

There are more than a hundred methods involved in turning bamboo into a weaved art form. Thinning the bamboo alone requires sawing, reeling, cutting, slicing, ripping and scraping.

Shengzhou is also the home town of the largest piece of bamboo art in the world. The woven screen called “The Six Steeds in Zhao Mausoleum” is 8.22 metres long, 2.35 metres high and 0.68 metres thick. It took over ten thousand working days to construct.

Shengzhou bamboo weaving art has received enthusiastic recognition within China and abroad. In 1995, Shengzhou was given the title of “home of bamboo weaving in China” by the State Government. It received a golden cup in the Chinese Arts and Crafts Hundred Flowers Awards in 1982 and went on to continue to win the same award for the next seven years. In 1989, it was acknowledged for its superior techniques and craftsmanship when it won a gold medal in the first Beijing International Expo.

Bamboo weaving has been acknowledged as a folk craft for many centuries and continues to deliver ingenious designs and objects. Shengzhou proudly boasts its abundance of skilled bamboo weavers and is widely accepted as the national town for bamboo weaving.