Peach-shaped huabobo are seen on display as part of the show titled "A New Year Guarded by the Dragon: Exhibition for the Chinese New Year" at the National Museum of China in Beijing, February 25, 2024. /CFP
Huabobo made by artisan Zhao Jing are on display at the exhibition titled "A New Year Guarded by the Dragon: Exhibition for the Chinese New Year" at the National Museum of China in Beijing, February 25, 2024. /CFP
Huabobo of different shapes and sizes are seen on display at the show titled "A New Year Guarded by the Dragon: Exhibition for the Chinese New Year" at the National Museum of China in Beijing, February 25, 2024. /CFP
A huabobo in the shape of a tiger is pictured at the show titled "A New Year Guarded by the Dragon: Exhibition for the Chinese New Year" at the National Museum of China in Beijing, February 25, 2024. /CFP
To celebrate the Year of the Dragon, Zhao Jing, an artisan from Longkou in east China's Shandong Province, has created a work of art using only huabobo – a type of colorful steamed bun that comes in a variety of shapes – as part of a display for the exhibition titled "A New Year Guarded by the Dragon: Exhibition for the Chinese New Year" currently running at the National Museum of China in Beijing.
Zhao learned to make huabobo from her mother when she was a child. Her mother, Qu Lirong, is an inheritor of the art of making Jiaodong huabobo, an intangible cultural heritage from Yantai City, Shandong. The four-layered artwork she created for the exhibition used more than 300 huabobo of various shapes, from gourds and tigers to peaches and goldfish. Overall, the work carries good wishes for luck, happiness and prosperity.