Character building

Students make copybook rubbings on inscriptions using paper and inked pads. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Such kind of culture tours have increased Yankai's passion for both calligraphy and Chinese culture, says his mother.

"We're Chinese; our children must understand our culture," she says.

Li's training schools also provide lots of culture tours. For instance, they provide tours to explore how Chinese porcelain wares are made and how to write and paint on them.

They are organizing a tour to Dunhuang in Northwest China's Gansu province to appreciate the murals in the caves that were painted thousands of years ago.

Such kinds of activities are popular and sell out quickly, Li says.

Song Weiyuan, a calligrapher and a long-time educator and scholar, says writing calligraphy may seem like a "useless thing" which many of the children may never write when they grow up, but it's still important for them to learn it.

"Calligraphy represents the highest level of Chinese art, since it is an art that has lasted for thousands of years. And it's a continuous record of how the Chinese characters change and how people write them," adds Song.

Contact the writer at dengzhangyu@chinadaily.com.cn