Love for ‘hanfu’ unites young people across the Straits

Models showcase hanfu at the Cross-Straits Hanfu Culture Festival in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province. Photo: VCG

As the 12-day cultural performances at the 2024 Taoyuan Lantern Festival drew visitors from across the Taiwan Straits, the highlight, however, was on hundreds of hanfu lovers. Dressed in exquisite traditional costumes, they strolled through the crowded streets to showcase this essential part of the Chinese culture. 

For many business insiders, though it is yet to have an adequate hanfu industrial chain as it has in the Chinese mainland, the allure of this traditional clothes however has sparked a craze among the island's youths in the last few years.

Debut show

On February 21, hundreds of hanfu enthusiasts from both sides of the Taiwan Straits gathered in Taoyuan to take part in the lantern festival. Adorned in ancient-style costumes, they participated in various cultural activities such as hanfu parades, wedding exhibitions, and lantern night tours, sharing this cultural feast with the local residents.

Their appearance at this Spring Festival event was attributed to the Hanfu Cultural Week, which was initiated as early as 2013 by famous lyricist Vincent Fang in East China's Zhejiang Province.

This cultural week later evolved into a festival celebrated by traditional Chinese costume lovers nationwide, attracting millions of traditional culture enthusiasts every year. This year's Taoyuan Lantern Festival performances marked their debut trip to Taiwan, where they engaged in exchanges with local hanfu enthusiasts.

During the festival, the exchanging hanfu team from the mainland hosted a series of activities in ­Taoyuan such as the ancient etiquette stage plays, ceremonial music showcases and even the traditional Cantonese Opera.

On the lantern festival which dwelt on February 25, the ancient-style market was filled with a myriad of products, from pearl hairpins and bamboo lanterns to specialty teas, exuding an atmosphere of antiquity. The local Taiwan vendors donned hanfu attire, joining visitors from the mainland to experience this unique cultural exchange.

Mao Zhaoxi, a post-1990s hanfu enthusiast from Southwest China's Yunnan Province, stole the show. Clad in a traditional hanfu adorned with auspicious cloud patterns in a light purple hue, she captivated the attention of visitors when showcasing the charm of hanfu culture alongside dozens of other young enthusiasts.

"I've had a passion for historical dramas since childhood, which led me to become a hanfu model," Mao shared with the Global Times during her trip to Taiwan. Being a traditional costume enthusiast, she has been traveling a lot to perform and promote the culture of hanfu, as well as on social media.

"This is a slow and meticulous thing to do, we need to specifically tell the history and culture behind to the listeners to win their hearts," according to Mao.

"The inheritance and development of hanfu culture represent a perfect blend of modern aesthetics and traditional aesthetics," Mao said. "Those traditional clothes are a significant manifestation of ­Chinese culture, embody the spiritual pursuits and connotations of the Chinese people from generation to generation."

During the festival, more than 100 hanfu enthusiasts from both sides of the Straits lined up dressed in ancient clothes from different dynasties, attracting visitors from all over Taiwan, who interacted and took pictures with the performers.

According to media reports, visitors could try on hanfu and pose for wedding photos, experiencing the charm of Tang and Ming dynasty-style weddings.

"The integration of hanfu elements into the lantern festival is very interesting, making it feel like traveling back in time to ancient markets," said Xiao Yuting, a Gen Z hanfu lover from Tainan.

Hanfu lovers from both sides of the Taiwan Straits try on hanfu in Taoyuan, the island of Taiwan. Photo: VCG

'A cultural identity'

From its beginnings of just more than 10 activities in its first season, the Hanfu Cultural Week has grown to approximately 30 activities in recent years, expanding both in scale and influence. For hanfu enthusiasts from both the Chinese mainland and the island of Taiwan, the cultural week has become an event to express their affection for this culture.

Hanfu designer Tang Houxiang, who served as a cultural consultant for this event, observed the varying degrees of hanfu cultural development across the Straits.

"While the Chinese mainland boasts numerous traditional culture enthusiast groups and a ­well-developed industry, Taiwan favorites such as the horse-face skirt and fish-tail robes are also gaining popularity among young people, partly thanks to the ancient costume dramas from the mainland."

Years ago, ancient costume TV dramas such as Story of Yanxi Palace and The Legend of Mi Yue produced by the Chinese mainland had started to win a growing number of audiences in Taiwan.

According to media reports, the 2011 TV drama Empresses in the Palace even hit a record 4.7 million views during the 2023 Spring Festival.

This also increased people's love for hanfu culture. In November of 2020, an International Hanfu Day was hosted in Ximending district, a bustling area of Taipei. As it was renamed the Taiwan Hanfu Festival in 2022, about 1,000 people participated in the event every year.

According to media reports, many interviewees said the love of hanfu among the youths is "an expression of a form of identification with Chinese culture."

A university student named Ziruo said that she was drawn into hanfu culture after watching the mainland fantasy drama Eternal Love.

"Hanfu is not cosplay, and those who wear that are not traditional women," Ziruo said.