Portraits of fortune

Mianzhu Lunar New Year block prints often feature auspicious symbols meant to coax fortune in the new year, such as rosy-cheeked toddlers bearing fish. Photos by Huang Zhiling / China Daily

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Spring Festival is when Mianzhu Lunar New Year block prints trace the historical images of seasonal celebration in Sichuan province. Huang Zhiling reports in Mianzhu.

People like Li Fangfu give color to the Spring Festival. The holiday and its leadup is the busiest time for Lunar New Year block print artists. So the 84-year-old, who learned his trade from age 12, creates and sells the traditional paintings in the central square of Sichuan province's Mianzhu city from 8 am until 7 pm."This is what I'll do every day until the festival is over," he says. "Business is booming in the square."

The city's government is sponsoring the 13th Mianzhu Lunar New Year Block Print Festival until Feb 14 to brighten the holiday festivities. There are lanterns with block prints, tents belonging to artists like Li and the city's print museum is staging exhibitions.

Mianzhu is one of the four schools of the millennia-old Lunar New Year block print style. The others hail from Tianjin's Yangliuqing, Shandong province's Weifang and Suzhou's Taohuawu.

Mianzhu block prints have remained popular among rural areas for more than 1,000 years. They're adorned with auspicious symbols meant to coax fortune in the new year - harvests, rosy-cheeked toddlers bearing fish and door guardians.

Painters create Mianzhu prints by drawing a picture on paper fastened to wood as an outline for carving. Prints are produced when the raised surfaces are coated with ink and then pressed on paper to create image outlines.