Carving/engraving on gold and silver is a Chaozhou folk handicraft with a long history. Since the Qing Dynasty, street markets featuring silversmiths have been thriving in the city, proving a flourishing gold and silver business. Among the various products, daily necessities, jewelry and exhibits are the three most typical kinds. In terms of forms, there are flat engraving, bas-relief engraving and carving. Engravers tend to work on precious materials like gold and silver, which is typical of this local craft. Skilled artisans need to go through more than ten steps to make a delicate product, such as casting, rolling, wire drawing, welding, engraving/carving, electroplating, polishing, etc. However, all the hard work pays off when the public appreciates the shining and elegant art pieces.

Unfortunately, the best day of the art has gone since the senior craftsmen have passed away one after another. What makes it worse is that few successors can take the job due to a changing attitude towards living as a goldsmith. Against this backdrop, urgent protection should step in to save the art from dying out. Therefore, in 2013, it made the 5th batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage.

Now the city has a number of representative inheritors of the craft. Among them, one is at the national level, three provincial and six municipal.