广式花丝 (Guǎng Shì Huā Sī)
Cantonese silver filigree (广式花丝) is the fine metalwork tradition of Guangzhou producing intricately structured objects — boxes, flowers, figurines, architectural models — from twisted silver wire as fine as 0.2mm, soldered without visible join marks. The technique involves drawing silver through successively finer draw plates to achieve target wire diameter, then twisting pairs of wires together under tension to create the characteristic double-strand filigree wire, which is then bent, coiled, and soldered into three-dimensional structures. The defining Cantonese characteristic is the production of free-standing sculptural objects (pagodas, boats, flowers) in silver filigree at miniature scale — structural engineering in wire rather than flat surface decoration.
Risk level: Endangered · China National ICH List (2006)
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