Taohuawu New Year pictures

The Taohuawu New Year picture in Suzhou of East China' Jiangsu Province is the most popular of its kind south of the Yangtze River. Beginning in the Ming Dynasty and flourishing in the Qing Dynasty, it is as famous as its counterpart, the Yangliuqing New Year picture in North China's Tianjin Municipality. Hand paintings were sold at the beginning, before gradually developing into multi-color woodblock printings.

The artworks boast high decorative values, and the painting style influenced Suzhou's neighboring regions like Hangzhou and Shanghai.

Mainly featuring dramatic stories, classic novels, and local people's life and customs, Taohuawu New Year pictures are known for their delicate carving and exquisite making process. By the late Qing Dynasty, the art form assimilated some skills of Western painting, making Taohuawu New Year pictures more "realistic" in style.

  Yangliuqing New Year pictures

Yangliuqing is located near the waterway and land transportation pivot of Tianjin, and not far from Beijing. Wood blocks in the region rose at the juncture of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and bloomed during the reign of Qing Emperor Qianlong. A saying goes that "every household can add details to a painting, and everyone is good at colors."

Yangliuqing New Year pictures prevail in North China, influencing almost all the other New Year pictures in the region.

Figure painting is a very important part of Yangliuqing New Year pictures, with the fat baby maid pictures beign especially popular. In fact, Yangliuqing New Year pictures were the inspiration of Friendly Beibei, one of the 2008 Beijing Olympic mascots.

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