Birchbark becomes raw material for painting

(ECNS) -- Paintings of horses, sika deer and young girls were created on birch barks.

The town of Bialang Town has rich forest resources, with locals collecting "wasted" birchbark for artistic creation.

Now bark painting has become a highlight of the town.

Zhao Guihua, 51, was born and bred locally. She was one of the earliest starters.

The biggest feature of bark painting is that after being peeled and sterilized, the bark would be cut, carved, or ironed as raw materials.

Coloring work mainly depends on ironing to preserve the natural color of the bark as much as possible.

It typically takes one month or more to finish an exquisite work.

Barks that seemed to be useless are now resources with great value, with bark painting offering local women job opportunities.

Currently, the annual sale of bark paintings in the town has reached hundreds of thousands of yuan, promoting development of the local economy.

"I hope that young people can learn bark painting. We're getting older and this handicraft needs young inheritors," Zhao said.