"I intend to choose Pingyao as a training base to teach people to sculpt clay, a traditional Chinese craft which needs to be preserved and kept alive for future generations," said Ouyang Ningming, a sculptor from the Academy of Fine Arts at Shanxi University, who has recently proposed the idea.

Shanxi has a long history of clay-sculpting with 13,000 painted clay sculptures having been preserved from ancient times. But today, the number of people skilled in the craft is diminishing.

Building a training base in Shanxi to conserve the traditional art has been an ambition of Ouyang's for a long time.

The 2,700-year-old city of Pingyao, a UNESCO World heritage site, is famous for its long history and well-preserved ancient city and structures, including the clay sculptures of Shuanglin Temple and Zhenguo Temple. The county is an ideal place to teach clay-sculpting and conduct research, he claimed.

The base will be located at Pingyao Modern Engineering Technical School, according to Ouyang following his investigation in Pingyao. The school, with advanced teaching experience in fine arts and crafts, will help improve the skills of trainees in clay sculpting.

Two men make clay sculptures at Shanxi Ouyang Clay Sculpture Studio. [Photo/sxrb.com]