Painting with a passion, woman records family's life

A hobby that grew out of an accident has now become cherished tradition

At every family reunion, Wang Shuhong, a retired teacher living in Changchun, capital of Jilin province, recounts stories from her past using her paintings.

Over the last decade, she has painted around 250 of them, mostly capturing the simple but vivid stories of family life, especially ones featuring her husband, whom she has known since childhood.

Wang isn't a particularly talented painter. Her pictures are not masterpieces, but they are a way for the family to record memories, and looking at them gives them pleasure.

She first began to paint in 2013 following an accident.

"I fractured my ankle and had to stay in bed for several months," Wang said. "To get over the boredom, I came up with the idea of painting, which I've been interested in since childhood."

At the beginning, she only copied pictures. One day, her husband told her that she should paint her own pictures, perhaps scenes from their lives over the last few decades. "He really encouraged me and gave me lots of good ideas, which helped me get started," she said.

They have known each other since birth. Wang was born in Yushu, Jilin, on Oct 10, 1945. Her husband, Liang Wanrong, was born next door that same day. When they started primary school, they became deskmates. "We also studied at the same high school," Wang said.

After graduating in 1964, Wang continued her studies at Yushu Normal School, a secondary college that closed in 2000, and Liang was admitted to the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Jilin University in Changchun. "From then until 1967, when I graduated and became a teacher at a primary school in Changchun, we were only able to meet during vacations," she said. "Our neighbors always said we were a good match, and some did their best to get us together."

The couple started dating in 1969, and in 1970, after Liang graduated and became a Chinese teacher at a middle school in Changchun, they married. "Life was really hard. We lived in a dormitory which had originally been a warehouse. It was cold in winter and hot in summer," Wang said. "However, we had many happy memories there, including the births of my eldest son and daughter."