A lifetime devoted to the art of paper cutting

Wielding a pair of scissors, Song Baoshu looks like a magician, swiftly snipping a piece of paper into a work of art.

Song, 62, is a craftsman from North China's Hebei province who specializes in the Chinese folk art of paper cutting, or jianzhi. Boasting a history of more than 1,000 years, paper cutting was traditionally a craft mastered by women, whose creations were used in rituals and for home decoration.

As an art form, it has gained much attention in recent decades, and was included on the UNESCO world intangible cultural heritage list in 2009.