北京周报(2007年第41期)

Cover Story The Chinese art of paper cutting has long been a popular pastime in the country's rural areas. For more than 1,000 years, Farming families have used it as a method for decorating their homes, but the tradition has struggled for survival in recent years. In Yanchuan County in China's northwestern Shaanxi Province, however, the art form has experienced a revival thanks to the efforts of a local woman. Paper cutting master Gao Fenglian has invested her own money in establishing a paper cutting gallery in the region. The craft's growing popularity has also fuelled a nwe wave of people wanting to learn how to cut. More than 10,000 of the county's 200,000 are now skilled in the ancient craft, and its revival could serve as a model for the preservation of other Chinese traditions.