Lanzhou Jiaotong University in Gansu province has set up a number of practical courses on handicrafts in recent years, including classes on wire-pinched painting, wood-cut painting and scroll painting. The classes are intended to promote traditional culture and cultivate students’ workmanship.

Creating wire figures and filling in the spaces between them with painted sand, a group of students transform a white ceramic plate into an exquisite work of art. Among them is a student named Guo Tianhui, who has been studying this handicraft for one month. Currently, Guo is still practicing sketching, pinching and attaching the elements. Her paintings mainly depict figures, and she hopes to study more about the Dunhuang culture from which this technique comes.

Guo also said she was thinking about adding some contemporary elements into her paintings, since she is more proficient with that type of workmanship. These elements would illustrate her aesthetic view, the enthusiastic art student stated.

Liang Yan, deputy professor at Lanzhou Jiaotong University, explained that this course mainly focuses on Dunhuang elements, aiming to uncover students’ potential for both innovation and accuracy.

According to Liang, most of the courses at Lanzhou Jiaotong University focus on science; the university has not previously emphasized aesthetic education. However, university administrators are now making an effort to promote the university's art courses so that students can benefit from an education that goes beyond what they learn in their major courses.