Chongqing - Wan Qing's graduation project brought farmers and their produce into the gallery, and he has since taken the stall on tour across China.

Most art exhibitions are quiet places with white walls and signs that say "Do not touch" and "No food or drink." At the 2026 graduation show at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing this June, visitors heard something else: "Three yuan a jin, picked this morning!"

Wan Qing's work draws large crowds at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute graduation show. (Photo/Shangyou News)

The stall belonged to Wan Qing, a master's graduate, and was part of his work “Chongqing Metro Pack Basket Line.” Neat rows of fresh greens sat in front of six watercolor paintings of farmers' lives. Visitors could admire the art, then pick up a bunch of vegetables still covered in soil and ask, "How much today?"

The stall didn't stop when the show ended. Wan has since taken it to Beijing, Hangzhou and, on National Day, a shopping mall in Chongqing's Yuzhong District. So far, his touring exhibition has helped farmers earn more than 100,000 yuan (about 14,945 USD).

Painting the "pack basket line"

Wan's project began in 2024, when Chongqing's "pack basket line" made national headlines. The term refers to the early-morning metro services used by elderly farmers who carry heavy bamboo baskets of produce into the city to sell. In news footage, Wan saw station staff helping them with their loads and passengers giving up seats, chatting with them and buying vegetables on the spot.

"It felt really warm," Wan said. He wanted to capture that feeling on canvas.

Wan prefers realism to abstraction. "I paint what I see," he said. His work looks almost photographic at first glance, but up close, the brushstrokes give it warmth.

Visitors buy vegetables while viewing the paintings. (Photo/Shangyou News)

That instinct may come from his childhood in the countryside. Pocket money was scarce, so he picked wild ferns in the hills and sold them by the roadside for 3 yuan a bunch. "I know all about selling vegetables," he said.

To prepare his paintings, Wan traveled to Shichuan Town and joined the farmers on the metro at 4 a.m. He carried baskets, sorted vegetables, exchanged cash for elderly farmers who couldn't use mobile payment, and called out to customers at the market.

His favorite of the six paintings shows a fashionable young woman chatting happily with a farmer on the train. "This is Chongqing," he said. "You'd rarely see a scene like this in other cities."

Bringing the market into the gallery

Wan originally hoped some farmers would come to the show as live models, but they lived too far away and couldn't afford to lose a day of sales. So he changed his plan: if the farmers couldn't come to the art, he would bring the market into the gallery. He invited farmers from near the campus to set up their stall in the exhibition hall.

Some warned him that visitors would be too busy shopping to look at his paintings. Wan didn't mind. "My paintings are about them," he said. "Helping them sell their vegetables matters more than anything."

One visitor, Zheng Zelian, had been unable to keep working because of illness and was looking for a job. When she saw vegetables for sale at an art show, she was stunned. She told Wan about Huang Junxian, a fruit grower in Dongsheng Village, Liuyin Town, Beibei District, whose ripe peaches from more than 1,000 trees were going unsold. Could he help?

"Tell her to bring them over," Wan said.

Wan Qing. (Photo/Shangyou News)

That afternoon, a truck delivered 900 kilograms of peaches to the gallery. "I had no idea whether we could sell them all," Zheng said. They sold out.

"I'm really grateful to Wan for giving us a platform," Huang said. She noted that his stall already sold peaches, but he took hers anyway. "When the peaches are ripe next year, I'd love to invite him to the orchard to try them."

By the end of the show, Wan was so exhausted that he sat down on the floor. The stall had sold more than 2,500 kilograms of produce worth over 72,000 yuan, and every yuan went straight to the farmers.

Art that keeps growing

After graduation, Wan spent two weeks living in Dongsheng Village. The produce there is grown ecologically and tastes sweet. "Grapes, plums, peaches, everything is good," he said. "They just need a way to sell it."

So he began traveling with his paintings and produce to art events in Beijing, Hangzhou and Chongqing's shopping districts, telling the pack basket line story and putting local goods into visitors' hands. Along the way, he has gotten to know many farmers, including the “peach auntie,” the “plum sister” and the “gardenia uncle,” and he remembers each one.

Wan Qing's work on display at a shopping mall. (Photo/Shangyou News)

"The paintings are art, and so is bargaining at a vegetable stall," Wan said. "When farmers and visitors come together to buy, sell and laugh, that's when the work is truly complete."

Zheng has joined him. She used to think she could only do odd jobs, but now she wants to help more farmers sell their produce. "I used to think art was far away and hard to understand," she said. "Now I don't just understand it, I'm part of it. Maybe one day I'll become a farmer painter myself!"

Wan now has a full-time job and works on the project in his spare time. He is not letting the attention go to his head. "You can't rush this," he said. "A few paintings won't sustain it. It takes patience."

Zheng is more impatient for him. "I hope he goes far," she said. "The farther he goes, the more people will see it, and the more farmers he can help."