An integral part of the fifth China International Import Expo which opened on Nov 5, the people-to-people exchange activity featuring time-honored Chinese brands, intangible cultural heritage items and a myriad of cultural activities is currently underway in Shanghai.

The following are some things visitors shouldn't miss.

Time-honored Chinese brands

Laoli Food, whose predecessor is a tofu or soybean curd shop founded by Li Shunhe in Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang province during the Minguo period (1912-49), has been sticking to making tofu in the traditional way. The time-honored brand is showcasing the ancient culinary skills at the expo.

The brewing skills of Xiongzheng liquor, which was designated as a time-honored brand in Guizhou province in 2021, are currently on display at the expo, and visitors can have a try at the spirit with sauce-like fragrance.

Masterful artisanship

The fifth CIIE features a dazzling assortment of exquisite handicrafts, including hangluo, Ge kiln porcelain, and Xiling seals from Zhejiang province, as well as Hetian jades and other intangible cultural heritage products from Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Hangluo is a fabric made by weaving pure silkworm thread in an extremely complex pattern, and is famed for being light and breathable.

Ge kiln porcelain works are those created in techniques seen in the Ge kilns in Longquan, a county-level city in Zhejiang in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), while Xiling seals are engraved by the Seal Engravers' Society of Xiling which was founded a century ago.

Cultural activities

At this year's expo, artists from Hong Kong, celebrating the 25th anniversary of its return to the motherland, will sing classic Cantonese songs and stage orchestral performances to express their love for the motherland and showcase the SAR's remarkable achievements.

Singers, cross-talkers and folk musicians from Shanghai, the expo's host city, will also perform to pay tribute to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.