Season's greetings

Artisan Huo Xiuying's 10-sq-m nianhua studio is hidden away in an off-color residential building, part of a 90-sq-m apartment that has been home to three generations of her family since the early 1990s.

In the cupboard of the small sitting room are a lot of trophies that proclaim the 71-year-old woman's artistry. Hanging on the walls of the studio are colorful nianhua, or Chinese New Year pictures, of various sizes.

Spring Festival is the busiest time of the year for Huo and her husband Gao Enke, a retiree from Tianjin People's Theater, and the couple has been busy in the studio.