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Wear qipao for festive fun
en.hangzhou.com.cn   2021-02-25 14:51   Source:Hangzhoufeel

Anastasia tried her new qipao on. Photo: Jin Yinying

Podareva Anastasia, a young Russian poet living in Hangzhou, got her first tailored qipao, also known as cheongsam (旗袍), a one-piece body-hugging dress for the Spring Festival from Hangzhou Yuezhiqi Studio(月之栖).

In one of the series events initiated by Hangzhoufeel and specifically designed to have the international residents in the city get familiar with the Chinese New Year traditions—Enjoy Spring Festival in Hangzhou, we interviewed Anastasia about her new dress.

Wearing new clothes for the Chinese New Year is an ancient custom in China. According to the Dongjing Meng Hua Lu(Chinese:东京梦华录, Dreams of Splendor of Eastern Capital or The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendor, a memoir written by Meng Yuanlao(孟元老) in the Northern Song Dynasty(960-1120 AD), people would put on their new caps, new clothes, new shoes, and even new socks during the holidays.

Although modern people can buy new clothes any time they want, wearing new clothes has been retained as a fresh start of the New Year. On the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, Hangzhou locals often go to temple fairs in their new attire.

On Feb 1, we visited the Yuezhiqi Studio located on Southern Song Imperial Street. Qian Zhongshu, the founder and owner of the studio and a graduate from the China Academy of Art, has been running the jewelry studio since 2013 and is known for redesigning and embellishing broken jewels to "give old pieces new value and new meaning." In 2020, with two experienced tailors joining his business, Qian started making qipao in the traditional way.

He has collected hundreds of rolls of patterned fabrics from all over the world, decorating them with the jewelry he has designed. This studio has gained popularity among the locals and some celebrities as well.

The first step of making qipao is to select the cloth. Anastasia chose a Klein-blue colored fabric. "This special soft cloth, called Zheng Juan(正绢), can be made for slim cut," commented Qian.

The tailor measured Anastasia 's sizes and began to make the dress tailored for her. "It may take a long time to finish a completely handmade dress, from three to five days to one to two months, depending on the complexities," Qian added.

As Spring Festival was drawing near, the workers at the studio were busy making clothes for the New Year's Galas for CCTV and other TV stations, usually in bright colors, such as red, yellow, blue, and purple, and in the Chinese traditional patterns.

"I bought a lot of traditional Chinese dresses before, none of which fit very well," said Anastasia, who put on her qipao as soon as she got it regardless of the chilling air.

As a poet, she wrote a poem to celebrate spring highlighted by the Chinese New Year.

Eyes of spring

By Podareva Anastasia

Where does spring come from?

Descends from the mountains and sea waves.

Goes to wake the world from sleep

And the grays were given to paint with flowers.

The scent of camellias will bloom,

With beautiful force, awake the world.

And in our frozen hearts, will respond,

By a thawed lyre, on the strings of soul.

So listen to the sounds of a lyric song,

As if Euterpe, with a way of a hand,

Invite us to participate in the orchestra,

Where the sounds of spring, poems shall be born.

Author:Jin Yingying  Editor:Gao Mingzhen
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