Tian Xiulong, a folk artist, demonstrates the skills of "pyrography" during festivities held in Baotou, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, on Feb 5-6, in celebration of the upcoming Spring Festival. Pyrography refers to the use of a hot soldering iron to draw on an object using burn marks. Tian drew an image of a bull on a gourd. [Photo/Baotou Evening News]

A child learns about the art of sugar-figure blowing on Feb 5. Sugar-figure blowing is a traditional Chinese folk art. The sugar-figure blowers first heat the sugar up to the appropriate temperature, and then knead it into a ball. They use their fingers to press a deep hole into the ball, and then pull their fingers out along with the sugar until the sugar is very thin. At this moment, they break off the sugar stick and blow air into the sugar to make it into molds. Lastly, the folk artists craft the molds into different shapes.[Photo/Baotou Evening News]

A child shows a bull figurine she made using sugar-blowing techniques, Feb 5. [Photo/Baotou Evening News]