Chin said the most amazing thing in Shanxi is that the traditional cultural assets, like buildings, paintings, calligraphy and folk arts, can inspire people in the cultural creative industry.

"I've heard that a lot of Shanxi designers have won international awards for the innovative use of traditional elements in their works," Chin said.

"When it comes to creativity, a designer should not start from scratch," he said. "He can draw inspiration from many other things. In Shanxi, for instance, the traditional culture is the source of inspiration for many designers."

Ong Zi Eng, another PIA student, said that building a linkage between traditional culture and modern creativity is the wisdom that Shanxi contributes to the design industry.

"We are Malaysians with ancestral and cultural roots in China," Ong said. "We'd like to bring home these Chinese cultural elements, which would be conducive to our career development in the future."