Part of the paper-cutting work "Jinling's Twelve Beauties" [Photo/zjol.com]

A display of paper-cutting, one of the most typical Chinese folk arts, themed on "Jinling's Twelve Beauties", has been opened at a hall of culture and creation in Longyou county, Quzhou city of East China's Zhejiang province.

The paper-cutting works of characters in A Dream of Red Mansions are made by Qin Mixin, a Chinese primary school teacher.

Born in 1988, Qin was already keen on painting and paper-cutting when she was still a child. She likes drawing and cutting out her favorite patterns on red paper.

Qin likes doing paper-cutting during her spare time. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

Qin worked in art design in Hangzhou and Jinhua after graduation but she found it mostly meant satisfying customers' needs. She chose to be a teacher in her home town as there would be more extra time for free creation.

From flowers, birds, and butterflies to fictional characters, Qin strives for paper-cuttings showing different aspects of her subjects. Once she made the decision of cutting "Jinling's Twelve Beauties", she began to look for samples to study their postures. 

Daiyu is the most difficult character to deal with because there are many lines in her clothes which require proper strength and high accuracy, Qin said.

Lin Daiyu, one of the twelve beauties, is hard to deal with because of the complicated lines. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

It takes her about one hour and consumes four razors to complete a piece of work in spite of massive preparation.

Qin wants to do more paper-cutting and try other art forms like painting on wood and stone to show the beauty of her hometown.

Qin is also working on other art forms like wood painting. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]