Creative ideas are in abundance at the ongoing Beijing Cultural and Creative Industry Expo. Visitors can see some commonly used items updated with novel ideas. Let's take a look.

Several stones are stacked up to make a modern style incense burner. Simple design and solemn color make it an ideal setting for Buddhist meditation. It can also just create a quiet atmosphere in your home, say, when you are drinking tea and reading a book. When you burn incense, the smoke generated is released from both above the incense and from the bottom of the burner. This has earned the gadget the apt name, "High Hill and Flowing Water".

There are plenty of other examples at the expo that blend traditional culture and state-of-the-art technology. This incense burner is made of porcelain and titled "Tiger Walks Up Mountain". When the incense burns out, the ashes form into a string of footprints like the tiger has climbed up the mountain.

Jia Wei, chairman of LKK Design, said, "We are mixing the modern design with traditional oriental aesthetics, to provide for the new lifestyle of Chinese."

A furniture exhibition held at the event's sub-venue, the Millenium Museum is also filled with fresh ideas. This sofa is inspired by ink painting, while these cobblestone-like clocks bring you a bit of nature. And these two futuristic settings are actually two soft sofas.

Zeng Hui, director of Gehua Creative Culture Center, said, "We've gathered more than 300 pieces designed by companies from both home and abroad. I hope it provides a trendy place for people to enjoy fashionable cultural products."

People interested in the creative culture can catch up with the activities at dozens of venues of the Chinese capital until next Monday.

Staff members show the intelligent doll robots during the 7th China (Beijing) International
Cultural and Creative Industry Expo (ICCIE) in Beijing, capital of China, Dec, 20, 2012. (Xinhua)