Fan, not only a delicate handicraft

（Guangming Online）  11:10, November 14, 2012

Qing Dynasty liked to gird many daily articles for use. Men carried glasses case, fan covers, snuff boxes, pipes, flint, moneybags, little walking sabers etc. around waist. Women also liked to carry small daily articles. They didn’t always tie them around the belt, but girded strands of articles in the front piece of the garment, such as a toothpick, nipper and earpick etc.

The movement of a hand-held fan provides cooling by increasing the airflow over the skin which in turn increases the evaporation rate of sweat droplets on the skin. This evaporation has a cooling effect due to the latent heat of evaporation of water. Fans are convenient to carry around, especially folding fans.