As the Chinese New Year is around the corner, many festive activities and celebrations are ready to be explored and a themed art exhibition in downtown Chongqing has attracted loads of tourists and residents.

The New Year exhibition with the theme of "New Life • New Style • New Year Painting", held in Shibati Old Street, Yuzhong District will last until February 5.

Against the backdrop of the swaying and lifelike carp lanterns, these New Year paintings depict the auspicious festival, well-off life, and Bayu culture with unique lines and colors and bring vitality and vigor out of the excellent traditional Chinese culture. This exhibition allows visitors to feel the charm of fine traditional Chinese culture in the new era.

"The beautiful carp lanterns attracted me, and I didn't expect to discover this New Year's art exhibition. These New Year paintings remind me of the Spring Festival in my childhood. The combination of New Year paintings and rabbit lanterns creates a strong aura of the New Year. I was even presented with New Year's couplets." A resident shared his visiting experience. "This exhibition embodies the characteristics of the Bayu Region. One of the paintings reveals Chongqing's rural revitalization and reflects the prosperity of Chongqing by depicting the People's Liberation Monument, hot pot, high-speed rail, and local scenery."

Many creators of New Year paintings also appeared at the exhibition. In front of a New Year painting titled "Breeding," Liu Hong, the creator of this painting from the Culture Center of Yuzhong District, explained the creative background and painting techniques, "The current third-child policy inspires this painting. I just gave birth to my second child, so I am concerned about such subjects. Therefore, I made an all-out effort to create this work." Liu Hong said, "This work combines the basic elements of traditional New Year paintings, such as butterflies, children's clothes, and flower patterns, and oil painting elements are added on this basis. Based on contrasting colors and supplemented by similar colors, this painting aims to convey people's sense of happiness, gain, and contentment for living in a country at peace."

At the exhibition, a painting of galloping horses with bright colors and bold composition garnered the attention of plenty of visitors. "This work titled 'Fierce Horse Racing Festival' is inspired by horse racing in the Tibetan areas of the Western Sichuan Plateau. It applies colors and creative techniques of traditional New Year paintings, contemporary horizontal composition, and large scenes to reflect the happiness and unity of all ethnic groups in China." Yang Jianye, the creator of this painting from the Culture Center of Banan District, shared his creative inspiration and techniques.

In recent years, a growing number of farmers have depicted a better life in their eyes through painting. This exhibition creates a festive and harmonious atmosphere for the New Year. It enriches the festival and cultural life of the masses in the hope of encouraging more professional artists and the masses to create more excellent paintings.

"To celebrate the Spring Festival, we have carried out a series of activities such as Our Chinese Dream • Culture into Thousands of Families. It encourages the public to inherit excellent traditional Chinese culture, promotes the innovative development of folk art, sends New Year blessings to the masses, creates a festive atmosphere of reunion, harmony, and joy, and enriches people's cultural life in the form of New Year paintings." Luo Zhimin, Director of the Chongqing Public Cultural Art Center, introduced that this exhibition combines an offline exhibition with online display to create a festive atmosphere, enrich people's life, inherit intangible cultural heritage, and reveal local characteristics. It also epitomizes the flavor of the Chinese New Year and allows people to experience the charm of fine traditional culture in the new era.