At the start of 2023, a sprightly illustrator in his early 30s suddenly skyrocketed to fame on China s social media platform Xiaohongshu. Li Shichuan rise to stardom was no stroke of luck. Just before his newfound popularity, he had a whimsical idea to infuse the millennia-old Chinese tradition of the lively lion dance into his artistic pursuits. With a quirky twist, he brought this age-old tradition to life in a vibrant, cartoonish style, captivating throngs of fans.
Just like many of his peers, Lang Jiaziyu, who was born into a cultural heritage family in 1995, loves basketball, manga and most importantly China s traditional culture. As a third-generation inheritor of the Chinese intangible cultural heritage (ICH) known as Beijing dough sculpture, Lang has his own magic weapon -