The sweet magic of Harbin's sugar figurines

To celebrate the successful return of one of the country's rocket crews, Wang spent three days creating the sugar figure of an astronaut. "I can't remember how many times I failed," she said. "But I wasn't discouraged, and after working out what I was doing wrong, I finally created a satisfactory figurine — finally succeeding, just as the country had succeeded in sending a rocket into space."

In 2006, sugar figurine making was listed as a national-level intangible cultural heritage, and in 2019, Wang was granted the title of provincial-level inheritor.

"As far as I know, there are fewer than 100 people in China who can make sugar figures, and even fewer are young female inheritors," she said. "It is not easy to make innovations to an intangible cultural heritage, but I will persevere."

Every month since 2017, Wang and a group of folk artists visit rural schools in Harbin, teaching students about traditional art forms such as paper cutting and clay sculptures.

The students also get to make figures of their own under their guidance. "We were all very happy to discover that the students were really interested in these traditional arts," she said. "Making sugar figurines is not just a precious childhood memory, it also brings me great happiness and joy. I hope to teach more people about the art and traditional culture."