Ren Xiaolin, a veteran oil painter from Guizhou province, started his nationwide exhibition tour at Today Art Museum in Beijing.

The solo show presents more than 100 oil works featuring ghost-like figures, mysterious landscapes and motifs, along with his early sketches, diaries and manuscripts.

Ren first came to public attention in the late 1980s and has continued to discover new artistic languages, curator Feng Boyi says.

"The works on view reveal the artist's interest in questioning the reality that most people take for granted," Feng says.

After its Beijing debut, which ends on Jan 5, the exhibition will tour the southern provinces of Sichuan and Guizhou.