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Mascots of the Asian Games appear in paper-cuttings. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Besides inheriting traditional paper-cutting skills, she also integrated Xiashi colored lanterns, another important intangible heritage in Haining, into her works.

"I also used color and needle-punching — incorporating the needle punching technique of Xiashi colored lanterns to reflect the regional characteristics of our Haining paper-cutting," she said.

In addition, the red, black and blue color is another important feature, giving the work a taste of ancient China.

She said the color was inspired by the classic Chinese painting A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains by ancient painter Wang Ximeng during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), and the Chinese dance drama Poetic Dance: The Journey of a Legendary Landscape Painting.

The two-hour-long dance drama portrays the painting's beauty through traditional Chinese dance movements. It premiered several years ago and has become one of the most successful dance dramas in China.