Short of painting tools, Wu had to buy a blackboard as his palette and a manure basket made of willow twigs as his easel. He began producing landscapes, including a series of paintings of northern villages such as Wild Chrysanthemum,Sparrow.

Sparrow by Wu Guanzhong

After he was free to paint again, Wu started a new experiment, trying to combine ink and oil painting techniques. He would paint the same subject twice, once in ink and once in oil paint. The results were mixed. Sometimes both were successful, and sometimes not.

While teaching traditional watercolor painting in Tsinghua University, Wu experimented with combining Western watercolors and Chinese ink painting techniques. As a result, his watercolor paintings during that time successfully integrated Eastern artistic concepts with Western discipline of form.

The Great Wall by Wu Guanzhong

At the beginning of the 1980's, Wu painted The Great Wall for Beijing's Xiangshan Hotel. Traditionally, the Great Wall was represented as a mountain scene, like thin lacework put on the mountains. But in Wu’s eyes, the Great Wall turns, winds and twists.

"At that time, many people thought I had gone too far," he said. "Even I myself am not satisfied with it, for it is immature. But it is the first step on my new way”.