Chongqing - A pair of scissors can turn an ordinary piece of paper into a lifelike picture. The 76-year-old Zhou Dingzhou, the inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage project "Yanxing Paper-Cutting" in Dadukou District, has won many awards because of his unique paper-cutting skills.

76-year-old Zhou Dingzhou. (Photo provided to iChongqing)

Zhou Dingzhou is the third-generation inheritor of the municipal intangible cultural heritage project "Yanxing Paper-Cutting" in Dadukou and has been engaged in paper-cutting for 55 years. With scissors in one hand and red paper in the other hand, the scissors flip up and down, and the paper keeps rotating. Several butterflies appeared on the paper a few minutes later as if they were ready to fly away. The onlookers were amazed, but Zhou Dingzhou said this was a 'piece of cake' in the paper-cutting process.

Zhou Dingzhou's work presents a peacock and peony flowers. (Photo provided to iChongqing)

In Zhou Dingzhou's recently completed work "Gorgeous and Colorful," peacocks and peony flowers complement each other and are full of fun. Cutting peacocks is Zhou Dingzhou's most famous and unique skill. Each peacock has nearly one hundred feathers, which look fluffy and lifelike from a distance, clear from a close look, and the overall picture looks three-dimensional and exquisite.

These peacock feathers and peony flower stamens use the most representative technique in the art of paper-cutting, that is, the sawtooth pattern paper-cutting. In the past, it took him more than 20 days to cut a peacock. Because he is old and needs to wear reading glasses, it often takes more than a month.

In addition, he created the "Charming Chongqing" series based on Chongqing's landmark buildings and significant attractions, a total of 12 paper-cutting works. The series depicts landmarks like Ciqikou Ancient Town, Hongya Cave, Chongqing People's Auditorium, Liziba, and the Chongqing Grand Theatre, showing the city's unique features.

Zhou Dingzhou creates works based on the landmark buildings in Chongqing. (Photo provided to iChongqing)

Zhou Dingzhou's grandmother, Mrs.Huang, has good skills in paper-cutting. And his mother, Chen Zhiyong, was also a famous paper-cutting expert. Because of his grandmother and mother, he picked up scissors and became attached to the art of paper cutting. 

With his superb paper-cutting skills, Zhou Dingzhou has not only become the inheritor of Chongqing municipal intangible cultural heritage but has also been awarded "Chongqing Folk Craft Master" and "Chongqing Arts and Crafts Master." Although in his 70s, Zhou Dingzhou is still active in school classrooms and community forums, teaching the excellent techniques of "Yanxing Paper-Cutting" to young people and paper-cut lovers.

(Chen Qian, as an intern, also contributed to the report.)