THE DELICACY IS IN THE DETAILS

Special relationship between ancient merchants and craftspeople has left a stunning legacy of art, report Wang Ru in Huangshan, Anhui, and Zhu Lixin in Hefei.

Editor's note: Traditional arts and crafts are supreme examples of Chinese cultural heritage. China Daily is publishing this series to show how master artisans are using dedication and innovation to inject new life into heritage. In this installment, we explore wood, stone and brick carving in architecture in the Huizhou area.

For Kuai Zhenghua, a 62-year-old national-level intangible cultural heritage inheritor of Huizhou wood carving, who is based in Huangshan in Anhui province, restoring ancient wood carvings is initially a game of detective work, and requires experience, intuition and imagination.

For example, when he was restoring one piece on which there were traces of an elephant farming, he knew it was a depiction of story of the legendary ruler Shun, who is believed to have lived over 4,000 years ago.