Villagers work at their family New Year painting workshop in Yangjiabu village, Weifang, Shandong province.[Photo by Ju Chuanjiang/China Daily]

Meanwhile, Zhang's much-younger peers at a local culture and art company are committed to breathing new life into the traditional art form.

"We are attempting to renew the motifs and forms of traditional Yangjiabu New Year paintings through combining diversified art styles, to cater to modern tastes," says 39-year-old Yang Zhibin, an artist with Weifang Fengtai Culture and Art Co.

One of his bold inventions is combining the traditional craft with the styles of modern oil and watercolor painting, bringing a modern touch to the folk art.

The local government has also taken a range of measures to popularize the art in recent years. A 146,000-square-meter folk art garden has been established in Yangjiabu, where tourists can see not only rural people's residences with touches of the Ming and Qing dynasties, but also see how New Year paintings are made.

"We invite tourists to come and buy our paintings. The number of visitors has grown to 800,000 annually from 20,000 in the 1990s," says Yang Gaozhi, head of the Yangjiabu village.

Professional courses have been set up in several local primary and middle schools to train new artists and foster young people's interest in the traditional art form.