This photo shows the course of documentary Paper Culture Along the Silk Road.
Great Seed began production on its new documentary titled Paper Culture Along the Silk Road in Beijing on Tuesday.
The project which explores the origins and development of Chinese papermaking technology is scheduled to last 13 days and to visit five locations of ancient papermaking in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Hunan, covering a journey of 5000 kilometers.
The video series focuses on traditional craftsmanship of Chinese papermaking, the role and preservation of ancient papermaking technology in the digital age, as well as the innovation and artistry of hand-made paper.
Great Seed is a start-up aiming to build an online community to preserve the world's intangible cultural heritage.
Inheritors of traditional craftsmanship of Dongba papermaking are working at a paper workshop.
For the first stop, the project team explores traditional techniques of Dongba papermaking in Baidi village in Shangri-la, Southwest China's Yunnan province, from Oct 21 to 22, 2015.
Dongba paper, which used to record Dongba scripture and draw pictures for Naxi people, is a rare ethnic handmade paper. The material for making paper has some kind of poison in it, so Dongba Paper is bug-proof and can be preserved for a very long time.
The technique of Dongba papermaking was inscribed on the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage in 2006.
The Gaoligong hand-made paper museum in Tengchong, Southwest China's Yunnan province.
From Oct 23 to 26, the project team will continue its journey in Tengchong of Southwest China's Yunnan province to visit the Gaoligong hand-made paper museum and explore the local technique of papermaking. Tengchong also has a well preserved craftsmanship in making shadow puppets and oiled paper umbrellas.
The papermaking workshop is at a natural karst cave in Shiqiao village.
The third stop for the project team is to explore the ancient technique of Bapi papermaking in Shiqiao Village of Danzhai County, Southwest China's Guizhou province, from Oct 27 to 28.
A zoom in on the procedures for paper making in Tantou Township.
The project team then moves to explore the ancient crafts of handmade paper in Tantou Township, Luanchuan County, Central China's Henan province, from Oct 29 to 31.
Finally, the team makes its last stop in Cai Lun's native place of Leiyang in Hunan province from Nov 1 to 2. Cai Lun, a Chinese eunuch in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), greatly reformed the art of papermaking. His contributions to papermaking are considered one of the most important inventions in Chinese history.
