An insider looking out

Xiong Qinghua, who recently held a solo show in Beijing, is seen as a stranger in his native Hubei province. Lin Qi reports.

Xiong Qinghua is considered a "weirdo" in his native Changhe village, near the city of Xiantao in Central China's Hubei province.

The 40-year-old taught himself oil painting at 14 and two years later he dropped out of middle school to paint while continuing to work on a farm.