Age-old art form gets new lease on life

"I will never forget the scenes when my grandma was cutting various patterns that cast shadows on the wall through the candlelight," she said.

Before she retired, Ji devoted all her spare time to paper-cutting work. Even now, she always carries a pair of scissors so she can create whenever she feels the urge.

She draws her inspiration from people's life experiences in Turpan, which is famous for its sweet grapes, and integrates them in her work. Her pieces feature grapes, grapevines and children from the Uygur ethnic group.

"I am moved by the land in which I grew up," she said, adding that as she learns more about the customs and culture of her hometown, the desire to create grows ever more intense.

Her "masterpiece" is a blue-and-white porcelain paper-cut piece that depicts a woman from the Kingdom of Loulan, a vanished civilization on the ancient Silk Road.

The woman, who dominates the center of the image, is flanked by fluttering grape leaves and her headscarf looks like a raisin house, a type of hut where grapes are dried that can be seen all over Turpan.

She holds a pomegranate to her chest, with the closeness indicating the seeds of the fruit that symbolize the unity of China's ethnic groups. Camels depicted below the woman represent Turpan's role as an important stopping point on the legendary trade route.

"In my mind, the woman is like the breeze in March. Her eyes are closed, but the sweetness of the grapes from her hometown is in her heart," the paper-cut artist said of her creation.