They offer flowers free of charge, presenting a captivating glimpse into the past, by West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Ancient glamour

After graduating last year, she decided to become a full-time vlogger, though she also takes on part-time jobs as a hanfu model and art director.

Chen and her friends have been making videos to re-create the daily life of people in ancient China, taking inspiration from the classic long-scroll painting, Qingming Shanghe Tu (Along the River During the Qingming Festival). They have also brought back the ambience of a Song Dynasty "milk tea shop", drawing references from ancient paintings like Maijiang Tu (selling drinks).

To celebrate last year's Qixi Festival, the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, a traditional celebration of romance, Chen made a video to show how people in the Song Dynasty celebrated the day, and this year, she is also planning on creating something new to promote this traditional Chinese holiday.

To prepare each video, she will explore various resources to make sure the content is accurate before proceeding with creative endeavors.

She thinks that approaching traditional culture requires a careful and serious mindset, coupled with a deep sense of reverence. "We should not treat traditional culture as a mere gimmick, or a tool to generate attention. Instead, we should seek to understand the allure of traditional culture from the inside out, appreciating both its inner and outer beauty," she says.

Chen reveals that most of her team members have jobs and only come together during their free time to engage in activities related to traditional culture.

Cai Jiale, who dresses like a peddler and distributes lotus flowers with Chen at West Lake, is a tailor specializing in hanfu. The 27-year-old has his own studio in Hangzhou and already has a full order book through to next year.

Cai moved to Hangzhou in 2012 to learn makeup. However, his involvement in the field of antiques sparked a deep interest in traditional culture. Drawing upon his childhood experience of studying fine arts, Cai discovered a passion for creating hanfu and embarked on a career as a tailor of traditional garments.

In 2018, he established his own studio, specializing in custom-made hanfu. Each order is meticulously crafted by Cai himself, with completion times ranging from a single day to two weeks. "Some customers request hanfu as wedding attire, while others wear it in their daily lives. There are also students studying abroad who order hanfu to wear in different countries," Cai says.