Paper-cuts salon members show their works. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Lanterns, paper-cuts, couplets and firecrackers are the impressions we have of the Chinese New Year. The most delicate and vividly prosperous item among them all is the art of paper-cutting. Hence, members of the Feng Zuansun Paper-cuts Salon in Yuexiu Community, Binhu District, are getting busy with the Spring Festival approaching. They get together to create paper-cuts that are full of New Year’s cheer with their smart hands.

Sheep in various shapes and sizes are vividly shown on the paper, with the help of a pair of scissors, two pieces of red paper and most importantly, a pair of smart hands. As she cuts the paper, aunt Cheng says, "We have to cut more varying and joyous styles, so that many residents can have their own individual paper-cuts."

This is a traditional folk activity for welcoming the Spring Festival in Yuexiu Community. Every year, since the establishment of Feng Zuansun’s community paper-cutting salon, she has cut some zodiac signs, Fu characters and window decoration for the residents with her disciples during the Spring Festival, to create a happy and peaceful atmosphere within the community. This year marks the year of the goat, so they have created many goat-themed works and said that they would happily send out hundreds of paper-cuts, so long as it adds to the happiness and luck of the residents.

The profound implications of folk culture in Yuexiu are conveyed by their traditional paper-cuts, with the hope of a better and happier life enriched inside of them. In the old days, each family would ring the old year out and the New Year in by spring-cleaning and affixing the red paper-cuts to their doors, windows, cabinets and cupboards. Inside the home, the kettles, bottles, jars, fruit plates and chopstick holders are also labeled with red paper-cuts so as to enhance the environment of the New Year. Now, here is a group of people who endeavor to reserve precious traditional cultures and customs and are single-handedly promoting and publicizing the charm of paper-cuttings.