Chongqing - The Colorful Forest of Ba’nan District is like a natural oxygen bar with a large area of nourish plantation. Significantly, the leaves of trees in it will turn into amazing different colors in autumn. Therefore it is called Colorful Forest. Recently the footage and photos of the Colorful Forest go viral online because two 3D paintings break two Guinness World Records, one for the largest 3D painting, the other for the longest. These vivid and lifelike paintings have attracted flocks of visitors. iChongqing has an exclusive interview with Yang Yuchun, the Chief Planner of the 3D paintings, and the CEO of the Colorful Forest, to hear about the great ideas behind the artwork.

With the feature of interactivity, 3D paintings express the theme of environmental protection

When we arrived at the Colorful Forest, we were deeply attracted by the paintings drawn on the slopes along the winding road. Lifelike animal figures and images from films like Avatar included in these paintings make up stories that express how human civilization evolves from conflicts with the ecological environment to coexistence with it. According to Mr. Yang’s introduction, with the theme of environmental protection, 3D paintings try to arouse people’s awareness of caring nature and protecting the ecology.

The largest 3D painting covers an area of 5138.606 square meters, and the length of the longest 3D painting reaches 688.293 meters. Mr. Yang said it was the first natural tourist attraction with artistic elements in Chongqing. The theme's inspiration comes from the concept of the founder of the Colorful Forest, Ms. Wu Ailing, who has always been committed to protecting the ecological environment. It took them several years to conceive these paintings and six months to draw them.

According to Mr. Yang’s introduction, these paintings' biggest feature and uniqueness are the 3-dimension visual impact that can allow tourists to interact with figures in the painting. “Our artists only drew half of the paintings as a basis or backdrop, and the other half should be completed by tourists when they come here and interact with these paintings.” Thus, every tourist visiting there can integrate themselves into the paintings, and then a complete artwork will be done through a photo or a short video.

3D paintings boosting the rural revitalization

Located in Fengsheng Town, the Colorful Forest also helps local people shake off poverty and the economy of villages nearby get revitalized. Mr. Yang introduced that some local villagers relying on the Colorful Forest ran some family businesses like agritainment, and some of them worked for the tourist attraction. After the artistic elements were added, the number of tourists visiting it has kept growing, which means more revenue for the tourist attraction and local people.

The difference in graffiti arts between China and Western countries

When comparing the difference of graffiti arts between China and Western countries, Mr. Yang said most graffiti arts in Western countries conveyed artists’ minds and ideas they supported like Edi Rama, the Prime Minister of Albania as well as an artist, who brought vitality and hopes to the whole city by remodeling grey walls of buildings in the city with bright colors and joyful patterns. In his opinion, graffiti art in China started late and stayed at the beginning stage. He thought many of them were created for commercial purposes or only for good appearances without deep meanings. He believed that the 3D paintings of the Colorful Forest with the theme of environmental protection had set a good example in improving the graffiti art in China.

Be part of the Universal Creativity Street Culture Season

Street culture originates from streets and communities around the world and enriches our daily lives with stories and history. It’s also one of the best ways to understand the people of different nations. Chongqing is showcasing multiple aspects of street culture that capture the local spirit of unrestrained creativity. 3D paintings in the Colorful Forest belongs to one of them. 

iChongqing has launched the Universal Creativity Street Culture Season on social media to promote this urban art form in Chongqing, connect with devotees of street art worldwide, and invite greater participation. We encourage you to upload your ideas and content pertaining to street cultures, such as graffiti, skateboarding, street dancing, hip-hop music, public art, and street styling. Everyone is welcome to share their visions by posting pictures, videos, or simply comments about street culture. Use the hashtags #UniversalCreativity and #StreetCulture, and @iChongqing_CIMC on Facebook, Twitter, and we will share the posts with street culture artists, media, organizations, and communities worldwide.

iChongqing will also share more street culture elements with you. Stay tuned!