Later, local workers also learnt to refine recycled gold and silver from scrap, slag and waste liquid such as crucibles and guttering sludge after non-ferrous metals were smelted. It developed into a special industry in Yongxing County.

 

At the first Chinese silver annual meeting held in Hohhot in 2002, Yongxing impressed everyone with its silver output accounting for a quarter of China’s total silver output. Since then, its title of the Silver City of China has been a household name. 

 

The local people have created a silver city with their ingenuity and hard work despite the fact that there is no silver mine in Yongxing. The local authority took full advantage of the titles of the Silver City and silver products wholesale center in China and developed the project of “industry+ tourism”. Now, it is promoting the construction of the demonstration area of national industrial tourism and developing the ancient village tour in the Silver City.

 

Recently, some livestreamers have been busy with selling various silver products at the Chinese silver culture workshop. Attracted by the charm of silver culture, many visitors enjoy interacting with the silversmiths in the production exhibition area.

 

“Visitors should be both spectators and players,” said director of Yongxing Taian Silver Industry Co., Ltd., a company where people can appreciate the silver culture and make silver products.

 

Yongxing Silver Building

 

The Chinese silver culture workshop is a collection of silver culture heritage, traditional Chinese and foreign silverware, ethnic art, masters’ masterpieces and creative designs. The Silver Building of the World, built with 2.5 tons of silver, is a testimony to the legend of the Silver City of China.

 

The silver products made in Yongxing County have gained many prizes and become the industrial standard. The national-level industrial demonstration site brand has been set up in Yongxing County.

 

Chaoyang Lucky Silver, a silverware production enterprise, operates its business in a model of the intangible cultural heritage plus other aspects such as educational trips, experiences and E-commerce so that the intangible cultural heritage of silver can be protected and passed down. Three cultural and tourism silver products with best wishes made by the company were chosen as the national gifts for the first China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo.

 

In addition, the county has built up several bases for the intangible cultural heritage of Yongxing County and Hunan Province such as the traditional silver forging techniques base, the training and competition base for silversmiths in Chenzhou City, the silver enamel pinching base and the practical training and practice base for the integration of industry and education in vocational schools.

 

Some key enterprises of silver products such as Taian Silver, Chaoyang Lucky Silver and Sunshine Metal have sold a variety of silver jewellery and silver art products across the country through the industrial tourism sale platform.