The cheongsam was once a fashion vane in Shanghai. The "Dragon and Phoenix Cheongsam Handmade Technique" originated from Su Guang's ready-to-wear shop specializing in Chinese clothing in the late Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, and was inscribed on the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2011. The dragon and phoenix cheongsam production technology adopts all handmade, high-quality, personalized precision production, including nine major production processes - "setting, inlay, rolling, dang, openwork, carving, embroidery, plate and painting".
Jiang Manzong was born in 1966 and is the fourth generation inheritor and disseminator of the "handmade skills of dragon and phoenix cheongsam". He has led apprentices into communities, schools and other places many times, participated in large-scale exhibitions on behalf of enterprises, cultivated young people's interest in qipao culture, and demonstrated the charm of dragon and phoenix qipao to audiences at home and abroad. Today, his two apprentices, Zhang Qinwei and Wu Yuting, have become the fifth generation inheritors of the "dragon and phoenix cheongsam" skill.
Jiang Manzong hopes that more and more people will be able to wear qipao on the streets, saying that "many women always have a piece of clothing missing in their cupboards, and I hope this dress is a cheongsam."
On May 30, Jiang Manzong came to the "Dragon and Phoenix Cheongsam" store in Shanghai. Photo by Xin Mengchen, reporter of Xinhua News Agency
On May 30, Jiang Manzong introduced the cheongsam manufacturing process at the "Dragon and Phoenix Cheongsam" store in Shanghai. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Weixi
This is a cheongsam photographed at the "Dragon and Phoenix Cheongsam" store in Shanghai on May 30. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Ying
On May 31, Jiang Manzong displayed the buckle at the "Dragon and Phoenix Cheongsam Making Skills - National Intangible Cultural Heritage Institute" in Shanghai. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Weixi
Zhang Qinwei (left) teaches students to make buckles at Qingyun Middle School in Shanghai on May 30. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Weixi
On May 30, Jiang Manzong (first from left) teaches students to make buckles at Qingyun Middle School in Shanghai. Photo by Xin Mengchen, reporter of Xinhua News Agency
This is a cheongsam photographed at the "Dragon and Phoenix Cheongsam" store in Shanghai on May 30. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Ying
On May 30, Jiang Manzong selected cheongsam for customers at the "Dragon and Phoenix Cheongsam" store in Shanghai. Photo by Xin Mengchen, reporter of Xinhua News Agency
Jiang Manzong (right) teaches students at Qingyun Middle School in Shanghai on May 30. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Weixi
On May 30, Jiang Manzong selected cheongsam for customers at the "Dragon and Phoenix Cheongsam" store in Shanghai. Photo by Xin Mengchen, reporter of Xinhua News Agency
Jiang Manzong (left) selects cheongsam for customers at the "Dragon and Phoenix Cheongsam" store in Shanghai on May 30. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Weixi
On May 30, customers selected cheongsam at the "Dragon and Phoenix Cheongsam" store in Shanghai. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Xiang
On May 31, Jiang Manzong (left) burned embroidery pieces at the "Dragon and Phoenix Cheongsam Making Skills - National Intangible Cultural Heritage Training Institute" in Shanghai. Photo by Xin Mengchen, reporter of Xinhua News Agency
On May 31, Jiang Manzong (later) taught his apprentice Wu Yuting skills at the "Dragon and Phoenix Cheongsam Making Skills – National Intangible Cultural Heritage Institute" in Shanghai. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Ying
On May 31, Jiang Manzong (left) measures the body size of customers at the "Dragon and Phoenix Cheongsam Making Skills – National Intangible Cultural Heritage Transmission Institute" in Shanghai. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Ying
Jiang Manzong (left) selects cheongsam for customers at the "Dragon and Phoenix Cheongsam" store in Shanghai on May 30. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Xiang
On May 31, Jiang Manzong inspected fabrics at the "Dragon and Phoenix Cheongsam Making Skills – National Intangible Cultural Heritage Transmission Institute" in Shanghai. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Ying
On May 31, Jiang Manzong (left) measures the body size of customers at the "Dragon and Phoenix Cheongsam Making Skills – National Intangible Cultural Heritage Transmission Institute" in Shanghai. Photo by Xin Mengchen, reporter of Xinhua News Agency
On May 31, Jiang Manzong introduced the buckle at the "Dragon and Phoenix Cheongsam Making Skills - National Intangible Cultural Heritage Institute" in Shanghai. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Xiang
On May 31, Jiang Manzong made buckles at the "Dragon and Phoenix Cheongsam Making Skills - National Intangible Cultural Heritage Transmission Institute" in Shanghai. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Xiang