North of the Bird's Nest in the Beijing Olympic Green, there is an exhibition area called House of Fortune. It displays the intangible cultural heritage of China and colorful folk cultures of every province of the mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

Each impressive display covers about 100 square meters and among them the Taiwan Olympic House of Fortune, featuring glass works, stands out as something special.

The glass items shown in the stand are called liuli, the name people gave glass in ancient China. Today the word liuli is used to describe what we know as glass art, or the colored glass products that are fired by adding metal oxides. The production process of liuli is very complicated and needs 10 steps, most of which are done by hand.

Long history

As an old craft, liuli-making has a history of more than 2,000 years in China. But in the past liuli products were exclusively used by royal families. In the middle period of the 14th century, this skill almost became extinct. At that time, the liuli products were not very transparent.

To most Chinese, the word liuli will only remind people of the colorful glazed tiles on the roof of the Forbidden City and these products are still rarely seen in houses of ordinary Chinese people.

However, things are changing. Entering the Taiwan Olympic House of Fortune, the liuli products displayed are very impressive. Under the bright lights the items are crystal-like glittering and transparent. Crowds thronged to have a look.

According to Yang Hong, an exhibitor, their exhibition drew an average of 8,000 people daily from August 9.

"In the past, few people knew about liuli, but now we have raised awareness of the products and how they are made," Yang said.

In ancient China it was seen as one of the five famous materials (the other four were gold/silver, jade, porcelain and bronze). However, because of its fragility and the prejudice toward liuli (people believe that liuli is just beautiful glass), it was rarely collected when compared with the other four materials. Yang said that Chinese people normally prefer jade, believing that it is a lucky material and a medium between man and nature.

But now it's different. The art value of liuli has gradually been noticed by more and more people in China, and its market potential is growing. Now, many liuli firms have been founded in China, though most of them are of a small scale and the products are made by unskilled craftsmen.

Taiwan liuli

One of the most successful liuli businesses is LiuliGongFang in Taiwan, which is the organizer of the exhibition in the Beijing Olympic Green.