There sat an old man among the amusement facilities, who is a craftsman of sugar painting, attracting many children. They watched him make sugar paintings in various shapes with syrup like dinosaurs, butterflies, and stereoscopic glasses.

 

Sugar painting is a folk art that is almost lost. At first, sugar is boiled into syrup, and a craftsman spoons up the syrup and spreads it on a flat and smooth iron plate. Various colored sugar paintings such as fish, birds, flowers, grass, and figures are printed as needed through tools such as spoons, blades, bamboo sticks, and molds.

 

“During the Spring Festival holiday, thanks to the good weather, I had good business. I drew fifty or sixty in a day at a peak,” said the old man. In less than a minute, a cute candy rabbit appeared on the iron plate. He then handed the candy rabbit stuck to a stick to his little customer.

 

He added, “Sugar paintings are an intangible cultural heritage item with fun and artistic value. However, traditional sugar paintings in shape of flowers, birds, insects, and fish are too ordinary to attract children. Therefore, I make some cartoon characters that children like, such as PAW patrol, Hello Kitty, and Kuromi. Some children may also make special requests, which requires imagination and years of craftsmanship.”

 

In addition, the most important reason for his good business was that there are more tourists coming to Chenzhou as it wins more popularity. “I made a dragon for a tourist from Hong Kong a few days ago,” he said with pride.