Chip off the old block

A young person tackles an ancient art, and a cultural heritage takes shape again

The tradition of making woodblock-printed Spring Festival pictures dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907) in Tantou of Longhui county, Central China's Hunan province, and was recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2006.

Xiao Yang, who has seen her mother Yin Dongxiang practice the time-honored art from childhood, is among the youngest inheritors of the cultural heritage.

She worked in a software company in the provincial capital Changsha after graduating from college in 2016, but returned to her hometown of Tantou last year to focus on the making of the woodblock-printed Spring Festival pictures after quitting her job.