Tradition around the block

Only four artisans, including Fang, still possessed the traditional skills when people realized the urgency of revitalizing the technique, following the reform and opening-up.

The Taohuawu Woodcut New Year Pictures Society was reincarnated in 1979.

It enjoyed a revival until the '90s, when a lack of young blood sapped its vitality.

It was on the verge of bankruptcy by the time it relocated to the Suzhou Art & Design Technology Institute in 2001.

Taohuawu consequently became exceptional among New Year woodcut prints in that the genre fully relies on formal education.

About 30 new-generation artisans have been trained.

Sun Yibo was one of the first students to enroll. The 38-year-old from Jiangsu's Nantong, who graduated from the institute with a decorative-art degree, says he knew nothing about Taohuawu before he began to study woodcut printing in 2002.

"I was attracted by its beautiful name. That's it," Sun says.

"But the longer I spent with it, the more I got hooked."

Sun later took a job in a design company, but he got bored with mundane office life. So, he returned to woodblock printing.

"I'm good at it. It needs me. So, why should I leave it?" he says.

Since there are so few practitioners, he has to learn every step, including sketching, carving and printing.

Duplicating old plates has been a focus of preserving the heritage, but Hua says it's sometimes difficult to replicate every detail accurately.

"Some typical patterns can't be found in China now," he says.

"We need them as references."

Suzhou hosted an international exhibition of Taohuawu pictures from the Ming and Qing in 2016.