For example, in Datong, an outstanding tourist city in Shanxi Province, the souvenirs sold at various scenic spots are mostly low-quality and low-grade items such as bracelets, Buddhist beads, Buddha statues, kites, nameplates, keychains, and mirrors. Locally distinctive handicrafts and local specialty products are almost drowned out. Even when such items exist, they are limited in variety, lack innovation, and have almost no appeal to tourists. If local intangible cultural heritage could be combined with unique traditional craftsmanship and modern techniques to form an independent system for innovating travel souvenirs and a system for protecting intellectual property, it would fundamentally change the current unreasonable situation where the souvenir market is flooded with generic goods but lacks distinctive products.
How can travel souvenirs be better integrated with the region’s intangible cultural heritage? The author believes that for intangible cultural heritage related to folk art and traditional opera—such as Shuilaibao, Guangling Yangge, Yanggao ErrenTai, Beilu Bangzi, Duijiugou Yangge, Lingqiu Luoluoqiang, and Yannan Shuaihaier in the region—on one hand, they can be developed into traditional digital media products.On the other hand, they can be combined with other intangible cultural heritage elements such as paper-cutting and copperware, or with traditional crafts like coal carving, artistic porcelain, and Yungang silk figurines. They can also be integrated with traditional Shanxi crafts such as Pingyao lacquer carving, Houma butterfly cups, Lingshi three-carving arts, Pingyang woodblock prints, Wutai inkstones, and Chengni inkstones. By doing so, the stories, arias, sheet music, characters, facial makeup, and instruments carried by these performing arts can be presented in physical forms, resulting in a series of distinctive travel souvenirs suited to the needs of tourists of different age groups.
In developing travel souvenirs related to intangible cultural heritage, in addition to following five key principles—practicality of the carrier, diversity of genre, technological innovation in development, gifting-appropriate packaging, and exclusivity in sales—it is also necessary to carry out differentiated design and production based on the age group of tourists, product grade, and specifications.
Developing travel souvenirs related to intangible cultural heritage serves not only to better build regional tourism brands and create favorable economic benefits but also to better explore, inherit, and promote the essence of national culture. Therefore, when developing such souvenirs, it is essential to maintain the authenticity of the intangible cultural heritage.