Small village in central China’s Henan makes a fortune through sales of tiger paintings

Wanggongzhuang, once an impoverished village in Minquan county, central China’s Henan Province, has made a fortune in recent years by selling tiger paintings with the help of the local government.

Photo shows a painting of tigers in a cartoon style created by a rural painter in Wanggongzhuang, Minquan county, central China’s Henan Province. (Photo courtesy of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Minquan County Committee)

There are now over 900 people in the locality engaged in painting and related industries, among a village of more than 1,300 people in all. Their paintings mainly focus on the theme of the tiger, an auspicious animal that is part of the Chinese zodiac. Last year, the village created over 90,000 paintings and generated a total sales revenue of about 100 million yuan (about $15.8 million).

Wang Jianfeng, Party chief of the village, introduced that a team has also been established to promote the locality’s paintings in order to better reach out to potential customers.

By setting up a rural painters’ cooperative and entering into cooperative arrangements with e-commerce platforms, including holding live-streaming sessions, the village has managed to expand its sales channels for paintings, in this way boosting the growth of incomes for rural painters.

After years of continuous efforts, the painting industry in the village has developed to become a thriving business, enticing over 3,000 residents from neighboring villages to become painters themselves.

Photo shows the surface of a fan painted with tigers. (Photo courtesy of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Minquan County Committee)

Due to the booming business propelled by the tiger paintings, Wanggongzhuang has become one of the most renowned painting villages in China and a popular tourist destination. At the end of last year, a cultural scenic spot in the village was approved as a national 4A level tourist attraction, the second-best rating in a five-level assessment system for the country’s tourist attractions.

Wang Jianmin, one of the pioneering tiger painters in the village, recently created a tiger painting in his home to welcome the upcoming Chinese zodiac Year of the Tiger. The farmer-turned-painter developed his own style by combining the skills of traditional Chinese realistic paintings and oil paintings, which has permitted him to make tiger paintings that are more vivid and expressive.

Photo shows Zhao Quanxi, a famous tiger painter, painting a tiger in Wanggongzhuang, Minquan county, central China’s Henan Province. (Photo courtesy of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Minquan County Committee)

According to him, painters in the village have always competed with one another to improve their painting skills, thus making their paintings more popular among customers.

“This year, rural painters in our village will create paintings of tigers in a cartoon style to inject fresh vitality into the tiger paintings,” Wang Jianfeng said, adding that the tiger painting village will have more promising prospects in this Chinese zodiac Year of the Tiger.