Qingming scroll transformed into giant clay sculpture

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The Chinese painting "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" is considered a masterpiece. Its depiction of ancient Bianjing, the capital of North Song Dynasty some 1,000 years ago, has been transformed into many other art forms over the years, including papercut, embroidery and porcelain. But if even those aren't enough to draw you back into the magic of old China, just take a look at this version. It's the world-renowned painting as a giant clay sculpture.

A real Bianjing city in clay with peddlers peddling, riders riding, butchers butchering, and a painter observing. This is like Pompeii unearthed into sunlight, or Sleeping Beauty in her the castle awaiting a kiss to wake up.

The footmarks on the Silkroad of the camels have already been wiped clean by the wind as they arrived at the city gate. At the dock, porters were busily unloading the goods shipped to the heart of the empire from all directions. This is also the most classic scene in the Qingming Scroll - Rainbow Bridge, with people of all walks of life strolling above while boats shuttle to and fro.

All the figures are at a two-thirds life-size scale including the houses and boats. Wandering about the clay world is like travelling through time.

World-renowned painting as a giant clay sculpture

The Clay Sculpture Garden of Qingming Scroll was begun in 2007 and is as larger than 18 soccer fields put together. There are over 500 figures recreated from the painting.

According to the organizer, every figure took at least four days to finish. And the total cost is more than 180 million U.S. dollars.

Zhang Li, Malongwan Clay Sculpture Garden, said, "I hope more people will come to enjoy our Qingming Scroll Garden. And I hope it can help inherit and develop our traditional culture."

So the next time you feel like travelling through time, perhaps the Qingming Scroll Garden in Tangshan of Hebei Province is just the right place and time.

World-renowned painting as a giant clay sculpture

World-renowned painting as a giant clay sculpture

World-renowned painting as a giant clay sculpture