China · Glasswork / Lampworking
博山琉璃花球 (Boshan Liuli Huaqiu)
A Boshan (Zibo, Shandong) lampworked glass tradition producing spherical glass "flower balls" -- solid or hollow orbs encasing miniature flowers, insects, fish, or other motifs formed from colored glass rods and worked over an open flame. Boshan is known as "the hometown of Chinese glazed glass" (liuli), with colored-glaze production documented from the Tang dynasty and the flower-ball form specifically dated to the Ming dynasty. The Boshan Liuli (Lazurite) Museum documents some 942 distinct flower-ball varieties by specification, style, and shape.
Risk level: Thriving · Not UNESCO-inscribed. A Liuli (glass) firing technique (琉璃烧制技艺) appears on China's national intangible cultural heritage inventory per China's official ICH database, but CRAFT has not independently confirmed whether that listing covers Boshan specifically or another production region -- this environment's network policy blocks direct fetches to verify the listing page directly.
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