Focus

A life in pictures

By Hu Yongqi (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-03 07:52

Tourists enjoy a traditional banquet at a Miao village in Leishan county, Guizhou province. The unique culture of the Miao and Dong people attracts more visitors every year. A total of 39 traditions are already recognized as intangible cultural heritage at national level, with another 124 at provincial level. Chen Peiliang / for China Daily

TONGGU, Guizhou - Even at the age of 75, Yang Guangying maintains the same enthusiasm for painting that she had when she first picked up the brush.

"It has become a lifelong hobby," said the grandmother. "I'll probably not stop painting until my heart stops beating."

Yang joined the ranks of amateur artists almost 30 years ago, going on to become one of the most famous in Tonggu, a village in Guizhou province known for traditional ethnic Miao watercolor paintings.

For many years she actually had no interest in the handicraft, she said, "but I tried it and by the time I'd finished my first painting - it took five days - I was hooked".

Shortly after taking up painting, in 1982 one of Yang's artworks, The Spring to Miao Families, was successfully recommended by Guizhou's cultural bureau to be displayed at the National Exhibition for Rural Paintings. She was the only female artist featured in the show.

Today, the walls of her home are decorated with more than 10 awards, won either in State or provincial-level competitions.

Zhao Wei, her son, told China Daily that Yang paints 30 to 40 pictures a year, each of which sells for between 50 and 1,500 yuan ($7 to $220). He said the extra income paid for the family's new two-story house in 2005.

In 1994, a British tourist paid 750 ponds ($1,200) for two of Yang's paintings during a visit to the village. Since then, at least 100 foreign tourists have bought her work.

"Foreigners like the paintings because they're unique," said Zhao proudly, "but we see the paintings as a way of exchanging (our culture) to those appreciate it."

Smiling, he explained that most buyers also follow the Miao tradition of sharing some locally brewed alcohol with Yang's family. "They often get drunk," he said.

China Daily