"Dignified" Tiger Shoes “虎头虎脑”老虎鞋

In 2007, Yancheng Tiger Shoes was included in the list of The First Batch of Jiangsu Province Intangible Cultural Heritage upon the approval by Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government.

Tiger shoes, named after the toecap resembling a tiger head, are a kind of children’s shoes made by traditional Chinese folk handicrafts. They are traditional folk crafts and are developed and passed down by people as tiger culture. People consider that the tiger is the King of All Animals, the infants and young children are expected to grow strongly, robustly, safely, auspiciously, and healthily by wearing the tiger shoes.

The production of tiger shoes is an integral part of folk art, which is an inseparable part of tiger culture. In a test of humans’ favorite animals in Western countries, it concluded that tigers rank first among all animals. The tigers have won the affection of people since ancient times. The tiger shoes can meet the psychological needs of people who advocate and inherit the traditional Chinese tiger culture. The custom of wearing tiger shoes has been passed down from generation to generation. Nowadays, the custom of giving children tiger shoes is still retained in both urban and rural areas in Yanfu.