Traditional skills of creating artwork with grains have helped people in Shoudong Village of north China's Hebei Province reduce poverty.
The unique rural-style artwork and related industries such as tourism have promoted Shoudong Village to rank among China's ten most beautiful villages. Originating in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the grain painting tradition uses grains and various plant seeds as raw materials to make paintings of mountains, rivers, figures, flowers, and birds.