Tradition around the block

"Better work opportunities lured the country's best craftspeople to Suzhou," National Art Museum of China researcher Zhang Qing says.

"A division of labor formed among painters, woodblock carvers and printers. They cooperated closely with one another."

Christian missionaries were active in the area during the Ming Dynasty, and they introduced Western scenography and etching prints, which were blended into Taohuawu's techniques.

"We can also see the elegant and highly aesthetic styles of the local literati paintings in the prints," Zhang says.

"The unique genre perfectly blends the East and the West."

Eventually, however, Western printing technology later overtook the traditional local methods.

Printing machines arrived in the late Qing Dynasty and soon dominated publishing.

Roughly dyed and flamboyant colors largely replaced elegance in the early 20th century.

Only a few struggling printers survived in Taohuawu. The rest searched for new markets in the countryside to cater to Spring Festival demand.

"People would recognize Taohuawu's signature style on New Year cakes' decorative wrapping paper," Hua says.

"But it was typically thought of as something belonging to the past."

Most of the old woodblocks were destroyed during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76).