Outside Donghua Gate, Beijing is hard to find.

Even if you look up, you can see the city wall and the watchtower, but the grandeur and solemnity you feel have already been frozen in the moat, leaving only a little old and lonely, just like an old pedant walking through a modern gown and standing in the traffic, he was surprised to find himself a decoration.

Even the souvenir shop outside Donghuamen is eager for quick success, thinking that setting up a tweeter and hiring a little brother wearing a "dragon robe" to sell cheap cloisonne bracelets with a smile can help tourists retain the style and charm of old Beijing. ...

It was in this uproar and noise that I panted into the R&D room of the "Beijing fan" at the intersection, and I felt that I had escaped into the gap of time. Between those exquisite and chic folding fans and sandalwood, I feel a little peace floating outside the world.

This research and development room is the product of the intersection of two people's thoughts.

These two people, one is Xia Huanrong, an artist from Deqing, Zhejiang Province, the other is Empress Rong, the founder of "Beijing Fan" brand, the other is a bamboo fan craftsman, and the other is a jewelry merchant, but they all pin their fun on that square fan bone.

Xia Huanrong is a painter who strives for perfection in fan production. Every fan must be drawn by hand, and every detail related to the feel and beauty must be carefully considered ... It is this style that attracts Wang Hourong, who has been thinking about how to integrate modern elements into the traditional folding fan culture, and this research and development room has become an ideal place for them to practice.

Swaying, a small folding fan fanned out a thousand-year-old ancient style, which was the poetry and ode of a gifted scholar, the tenderness and tenderness of a beautiful woman, the chivalrous courage of Li, Mr. Banqiao's and Miss Qingwen's waywardness. ...

So, when you slowly unfold a folding fan with some curiosity and expectation, it is like unfolding a scroll landscape painting. From catching a glimpse of its corner to a panoramic view, from catching a glimpse of the leopard in the tube to a panoramic view ... past lives, love and hate, all kinds of charming customs are concentrated on a small fan, thus becoming the elegant object in the long sleeves of literati.

Deqing bamboo fan. Photo by Liu Lili, special correspondent of Asia-Pacific Daily.

As the saying goes, a hundred schools of thought contend, and poetry, books, paintings, printing and engraving are not refined, which undoubtedly greatly spoils the scenery. 80% folding fans in the world are made in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and most of the exquisite and chic high-end products come from Deqing, which can also explain why Xia Huanrong, a craftsman in Deqing, took such pains in making a bamboo fan.

Fan face and fan bone are closely related, and they are in perfect harmony. A good bamboo fan, the fan bone is extremely important. We should not only show the natural beauty of bamboo, but also use exquisite craftsmanship on it. Xia Huanrong chooses bamboo, and the first thing is to look at the mountains. He selected eight to ten years' worth of bamboos from a bamboo forest facing south, sliced them, boiled them in boiling water for ten hours to remove the fat and sweetness of bamboo, then stored them in a warehouse for one year, and then designed and made them. ...

Xia Huanrong said that it is urgent to make a bamboo fan. There are many steps after the fan bone is formed. Besides grinding, grinding, painting and carving, it is also necessary to put the fan bone in the sun for a week to make the fan bone golden as jade.

Perhaps, the so-called craftsman charm is that he has awe of all things in nature, and on this basis, he has devoted his life with his own originality. Even from the lush years to the full head of Fahua, his heart has not changed and he has no regrets.

Xia Huanrong goes to Japan several times a year, on the one hand, to explore the market, and on the other hand, to see this neighboring country from the perspective of an artist. "Japan respects craftsmen as teachers and is worth learning," he said. "There are many century-old shops in Japan, whether it is cakes, wood products, sake or teahouses ... an old shop that is a fan has a history of three or four hundred years, and it is still operated by one family. The descendants of craftsmen have a natural destiny, and no matter how long they wander outside, they will eventually come back ... "

The R&D room of "Jing Fan" is only 50 square meters. The outhouse is a booth for all kinds of paper fans and silk fans. The back room is full of files, pigments, bamboo chips and semi-finished products of fan bones. That's where Xia Huanrong and several designers and artisans bury their heads in their creations ... A folding fan is made here, and then it will appear in a showcase in a city, and then it will be played in the hands of a literary collector.

It is this sense of crossing that made Wang Hourong create Beijing Fan. "Jing" and "Fan" are a strange combination, just like combining high-rise buildings, busy cars, people with indifferent expressions and hurried steps with the ancient "elegant things with sleeves", which is a delicate flower and has fallen into a quagmire.

Perhaps, people like Xia Huanrong and Empress Rong should live in ancient times. For them, being in a fast-paced era is a kind of pain and helplessness. Modern people, everyone is holding a mobile phone, which makes Xia Huanrong feel incredible, while Queen Rong thinks that the impetuousness of society leads to everyone's impetuousness.

Fortunately, the two people surrounded by impetuousness still have a yearning for beauty and the pursuit of elegant life. What is an elegant life? Empress Rong has her own understanding, that is, sitting by the lotus pond in Houhai, with a book, a cup of tea and a fan ... "The breeze in the rising sun makes me relaxed and happy."

Xu Lai is a breeze, and my heart is happy. This life is more like a distant dream. When the choking smell of smog, mixed with automobile exhaust, rushed into the nasal cavity, making you dizzy and weak, it is difficult for you to remember the last time you let your thoughts fly in the breeze; When the pressure of work, the triviality of life, the pursuit of material things and the vanity of the world have shattered your life, it is difficult for you to find a quiet time and a happy heart when autumn comes and winter comes. ...

From this perspective, folding fan is not only an elegant thing, but also represents an attitude towards life. However, in today's fragmented life, although gorgeous, like the wall and turret of Donghuamen, it has become an out-of-touch flying fairy, symbolizing elegance and slowness.

So, I don't know when I will have a folding fan in my hand again.