Keeping Beijing's hutongs alive, sketch by sketch

The Beijing Hutongs [Photo/CGTN]

He uses pencils to recreate Hutongs on paper. Many consider his unique thick pencil sketches a splendid expression of Beijing Hutong charm. In the sketches, he blends lines and planes in dark, grey and light colors to create simple aspects of life, like the streets and Hutongs in Beijing City. The thick lines give the sketches a three-dimensional look, an effect commonly found in western oil paintings.

"In 2002, I held two consecutive exhibitions in Beijing. Something unexpected happened during one of the exhibitions: An elderly woman came up to me in tears and said, 'You preserved my house. I don't even have a photo of our house, the house that I lived in.' In all honestly, my art is like a memento for people like her; I was able to help them find their way back home."

Kuang Han carries a camera and his drawing board every day. The weight of the equipment and his callused fingers did not stop him from drawing.