Dongping county in Tai'an and Feicheng, a county-level city in Tai'an, have been recognized as the "hometown of folk culture and art" in Shandong province, the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism announced on Aug 16.

The peach wood carving technique in Feicheng has a history of more than 1,000 years. The peach wood carving custom and the Feicheng wood carving technique were designated provincial intangible cultural heritage items in 2006 and 2020 respectively.

The peach wood carving artworks in the city has developed more than 40,000 varieties spanning 30 series.

Duanguqiang is performed on Dongping Lake. [Photo/dzwww.com]

Dongping county is renowned for its fisherman culture. The fisherman drum and duanguqiang are the two main traditional folk drama forms in Dongping.

Duanguqiang was originally just a "mantra" sung in the ritual of worshiping the river god. It then developed into a folk song art form, in which fairytale stories are told. It is now a national intangible cultural heritage project.