SHENYANG, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Shoubo, 37, uses an electric soldering iron to "paint" a reed stalk, outlining the shape of a water bird native to his hometown in the coastal wetland city of Panjin, northeast China's Liaoning Province.
"This is a Sauders's gull, or the Chinese black-headed gull, which is a name card for our city," said Zhang, a farmer who is familiar with reed marshes since childhood and emotionally bonded with such rare species.
Some 10,000 such gulls, around half of the total population of the species, inhabit in Panjin, data from local authorities showed.
After struggling with his livelihood in Beijing, Zhang decided to return to his hometown in 2003 and explore a new career. He learned to create reed handicrafts from elderly craftsmen and has been engaged in producing such handicrafts to introduce Panjin and its scenic beauty to the world.
A reed handicraft has to undergo multiple steps, including material selection, soaking, ironing, composition, decomposition, coloring and framing, before it stares out as a completed artwork.
Zhang arrives in his studio at around 8:00 a.m. every day and is engrossed in his creative craft until 9:00 p.m.
"Traditional Chinese landscape paintings, which mostly portray mountains, water, flowers and bird, have inspired my creations. They convey the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature," Zhang said. "I'd like my art to convey something similar."
Panjin's wetland covers an area of 249,600 hectares, accounting for more than 61 percent of the city's total landmass, thereby playing a significant role in climate regulation and air purification for China and surrounding countries.
The city yields more than 500,000 tonnes of reeds every year, which are mostly used in papermaking and construction-related works.
"Every autumn when the reeds are ripe, I will go to the wetland to collect the materials," Zhang said. Reed stalks used in making the special handicrafts need to be thick and long.
"Cut open the reed stalk with a knife, flatten it and stick cardboard on its back, and it will become the raw material for a reed picture," he said.
With the advent of e-commerce platforms and booming tourism in China, Zhang's works have been sold nationwide as well as overseas, including Canada, the United States, the Republic of Korea and Japan.
The reed artwork has been listed as one of the intangible cultural heritages of Panjin and Zhang has become an inheritor. Hundreds of craftsmen like Zhang are creating such handicrafts using reed.
Tourists flock to Zhang's studio every day, and he is invariably delighted to share its production techniques with visitors.
"More people will get to know Panjin's reed handicraft and learn about the city's wetland and bird conservation, which would help people comprehend the ecological concept of harmony between humankind and nature," Zhang said. Enditem
