In the scroll of Beijing’s folk culture, windmills stand out as an intangible heritage treasure, carrying the festive joy and auspicious wishes of old Beijing with their vivid charm of “rotating with wind and resonating with sound”. This centuries-old craft, with bamboo strips as the frame and paper-cloth as the wings, creates ornamental and sound-producing works through meticulous handiwork. It not only spins out a lively atmosphere in temple fair streets but also conveys pure joy in children’s hands, embodying the life wisdom of old Beijing—”elegance hidden in customs and profound meanings in form”. For foreign travelers, exploring Beijing windmills is an excellent way to understand Beijing-style folk customs and craftsmanship.
The inheritance of Beijing windmills is deeply rooted in folk soil, forming diverse branches, among which Tongzhou Big Windmill and Fangshan Windmill are the most representative, with a history of hundreds of years. The rise of the craft is closely linked to the prosperity of Beijing’s temple fairs during the Ming and Qing dynasties. At that time, windmills, as essential festival items, could be seen everywhere in temple fairs such as Changdian and Longtan. The rustling sound of rotating windmills became the most distinctive auditory memory of Beijing’s Spring Festival. In 2007, Tongzhou Big Windmill was included in the Beijing municipal intangible heritage list; in 2008, its inheritor Liang Jun was named a municipal representative inheritor, granting official recognition and systematic protection to the craft. Fangshan Windmill, as a district-level intangible heritage, has been revitalized under the persistence of Liu Wentian, the fourth-generation inheritor, forming a inheritance pattern of “north-south echo and distinct characteristics”. From the Republic of China to the present, although mass-produced windmills flood the market, traditional handcrafted ones have always been the “soul symbol” of temple fairs due to their unique craftsmanship and cultural connotations.
The value of Beijing windmills lies first in their ancient craftsmanship with “complex procedures and meticulous attention to detail”. Each handcrafted windmill requires 30 to 40 processes, all completed by hand, testing the craftsman’s precise control of raw materials, temperature and shape. Liang Jun’s family has been engaged in windmill making for generations, and he is the third-generation inheritor. The clay drum production of his windmills is extremely rigorous: sticky and mild clay is selected, processed through pulping, filtering, precipitation and other steps, mixed with paper to make uniform drum sides, air-dried for 3 to 5 days to set, and then covered with thin cowhide paper with just the right tightness to produce a crisp sound when rotating. The windmill frame is made of tough red sorghum stalks, fixed with bamboo nails instead of iron nails to ensure stability without damaging the raw materials.
Wind wheel production is the core of the craft and hides the most exquisite cultural codes. Craftsmen select thin bamboo strips, scrape and split them, soak them in warm water to soften, wind them into circular rims with molds, install spokes and paint them. Tongzhou Big Windmills are fixed with three colors: green represents the earth and environmental protection, red symbolizes the sun and joy, and yellow implies Yan and Huang descendants and auspiciousness. There are usually 12 spokes, corresponding to the 12 months of a year, with 24 joints connecting the rim and the central axis, echoing the 24 solar terms. A full rotation of the wind wheel symbolizes “peace throughout the four seasons and smooth time sequence”. Fangshan Windmills simplify the procedures slightly, completed in 36 steps, with more flexible wind wheel shapes adapting to different viewing scenes. The two styles together constitute the artistic characteristics of Beijing windmills.
Windmills are not only craft works but also “living carriers” of old Beijing folk rituals, with auspicious meanings embedded in every design. The proverb “When the wind blows, the windmill turns; when the windmill turns, blessings come” expresses people’s wishes for a better life. Holding a windmill to visit temple fairs during the Spring Festival is not only a joy for children but also an expectation for the new year for adults. In traditional customs, the rotation of the windmill symbolizes “a turn of fortune”, the red wind wheel implies warding off evil spirits and attracting blessings, and the yellow one represents prosperity and health, making it an indispensable auspicious symbol in festivals. At temple fairs such as Panjiayuan and Longtan, the handcrafted windmill stalls are always crowded. The rotating windmills, crisp drum sounds, shouts and laughter interweave to form the most vivid Beijing-style picture.
Today, this ancient craft is revitalized under the persistence and innovation of inheritors. Although over 80 years old, Liang Jun still insists on handcrafting, making hundreds of windmills every year before the Spring Festival for temple fairs and refusing to simplify the craft through mass production. Liu Wentian has brought Fangshan Windmill craftsmanship into campuses, teaching production skills to students in Qinglonghu Town, Fangshan District, cultivating new talents through the model of “master-apprentice inheritance + campus popularization”. Meanwhile, inheritors combine modern aesthetics to develop small cultural and creative windmills and customized festival windmills, retaining the essence of ancient methods while adapting to contemporary life scenarios, allowing the meaning of “rotating blessings” to enter more families.
To experience the charm of Beijing windmills immersively, core scenes and venues are not to be missed. Panjiayuan Temple Fair is the first choice to experience windmill culture. During the Spring Festival, the intangible heritage folk street gathers handcrafted windmill stalls with embroidery, dough sculpture and other crafts. Visitors can watch inheritors such as Liang Jun and Liu Wentian make windmills on site, touching the toughness of bamboo strips and the flexibility of wind wheels. The windmill exhibition area of Longtan Temple Fair complements Zhacaizi, kites and other works, with rotating windmills adding a strong festive atmosphere. The intangible heritage workshop in Wuxinzhuang Village, Xiji Town, Tongzhou District (Liang Jun’s inheritance base) requires advance reservation 1-2 days prior via the village committee, with a single experience lasting about 1-1.5 hours to make a simple windmill under craftsmen’s guidance. The workshop in Qinglonghu Town, Fangshan District (Liu Wentian’s teaching site) accepts WeChat reservations, with a 1-hour experience suitable for families or individuals. Both experiences allow visitors to take away exclusive Beijing-style souvenirs.
From the lively rotation in temple fairs to the laughter of children in streets, from the handcraft workshops a hundred years ago to today’s intangible heritage exhibitions, Beijing windmills carry not only a craft but also the folk memories and auspicious culture of old Beijing. Each bamboo strip hides the gift of nature, each process reflects the craftsman’s persistence, and each rotation embodies the expectation of “a turn of fortune”. When you hold a handcrafted windmill, watching it rotate with the wind and listening to the crisp drum sound, you can understand Beijingers’ love for life and feel the Beijing-style heritage and Oriental wisdom hidden in this small object.
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