Articles

  • King of the Microminis
    With the microminiature kites Leng Shi Xiang, of Beijing, makes, seeing is believing. Some are half the size of a housefly. The kites are so tiny a viewer without Leng’s amazing eyesight needs to use a loup to really see and appreciate their detail. Made of bamboo and silk, they take him days to make, he says, and a half day just to bridle. “The hardest thing is to saturate the silk,” he says. Flying line is a single fiber extracted from a nylon cloth. All of his creations fly, he says.
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  • The Kong Family of Beijing: Three Generations of Kitemakers
    As one of China’s leading kitemakers as well as being a direct descendant of the philosopher Confucius (551-479 B.C.), Kong Xiang Ze was a marked man during the Cultural Revolution which swept his country in l966-76. Mao had instructed the young Red Guards to destroy the “old”-----traditions, objects, human exemplars of Chinese culture. Kong thus became the perfect target. “I was beaten up seven times by Red Guards,” the 84-year-old says. “My property was trashed.”
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  • A Mysterious Case
    What is going on? When Rick Miller, of Silver City, New Mexico, flies a light-colored, 15-inch Chinese swallow kite at twilight he bought from master Chinese builder Chen Zhao Ji, he draws literally two dozen cliff swallows. They fly around the kite twittering and apparently feeding on insects. They do not attack the kite. The noise and motion of the live birds attract strollers who stand and watch. When Rick takes the kite down, the birds disperse. Now the puzzle. Rick bought another type of swallow kite from Mr. Chen, this one smaller and with black wings.
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  • ‘Mr. Ha’ a Chinese Kite Tycoon: Four Generations of Artistry in Beijing
    Small, boyish-looking, ever-smiling, Ha Yi Qi (pronounced Ha Eechee), of Beijing, hardly presents as a tycoon, but that is exactly what the renowned kitemaker is. A fourth generation craftsman, “Mr. Ha,” as he is widely known in the West, runs a factory employing well over 100 people and brings in serious money to his country from his exports to a dozen countries, mainly the U.S. and Japan. He travels widely and finds obtaining an exit visa from his country much easier than most, a tribute to his economic contribution.
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  • A Dynamo on a Cultural Mission Putting Taiwan on the Global Kite Map
    Angela Wu, who owns her own small public relations firm in Taipei, became interested in kites when she was hired by a tourism group to promote a kite event. Fascinated by the sport and appreciating a business link for the future, she immersed herself in kiting to the extent she found herself in Jakarta in 2000 attending the annual festival there.
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