As an artist with many years of painting experience, Wen Xi quickly mastered the techniques of sugar painting.
The materials for sugar painting are brown sugar, white sugar, and a little maltose, which are boiled in a pot until they can be pulled into sticky threads. Then, a spoonful of sugar syrup is scooped up with a spoon of suitable size and used to draw one beautiful pattern after another on a special board.
Finally, dip the sugar in a bamboo skewer and use a spatula to lift up the solidified sugar painting, and a sugar painting artwork is complete.
Compared to Wenxi's ease, Tata wasn't so good. At first, she couldn't even hold a spoon properly, and she got tired after a short while, either making too much or too little sugar.
The drawing turned out to be a sticky mess, but the thing is, everyone thought Tata's drawing was amazing.
Tata, the little adult, said, "I'm so tired."
Wenxi wanted to stop Tata from learning to draw simple fruits: "Tata, we can draw fruits, right? We can draw apples."
Tata looked at the beautiful animal drawings her mother had made and insisted on drawing what she wanted to draw: "I want to draw animals."
Wen Xi: "Okay, then you should keep practicing."
Tata cheered herself up: "Come on!"
While everyone here was having a good time, the other parents were all busy and flustered.
Huihui loves pottery. He thinks it's similar to clay. He tries to make a nice shape as his grandfather instructs, but his hands just won't cooperate.
Grandpa: "Kneading clay, throwing, and trimming are all lifelong skills."
The universe has also discovered that shadow puppetry is not as easy as it seems on the surface.
One person has to control multiple roles and even take care of music, not to mention the production of shadow puppets, which involves eight processes and countless cuts to make a single shadow puppet.
Jiajia learned quite well; she learned how to cut a type of window decoration in just over two days.
After three days of hard work—day, afternoon, and night—the team members have made some progress.
When it came time to check the results on the afternoon of the third day, all the children started crying and didn't want to participate in the competition.
Grey Grey: "I'm not ready."
Universe: "I haven't learned it yet."
Jiajia, carrying the paper-cut window decorations, quickly headed to the competition venue.
Although Tata's hands were still shaking, he drew slowly, and the shape of a pig was already roughly visible.
Xuanxuan was so engrossed in blue-dyed fabric that she had no time to pay attention to anyone else.
The village chief was waiting at the entrance of the ancient town early in the morning.
All the children lined up in a row, with tables, chairs and tools prepared in front of them. Opposite them sat a row of "judges," all of whom were craftsmen from the ancient town.
At the command "Start," the children began to move at their own pace.
Jiajia's little hands held a pair of scissors, twisting and turning on a folded piece of paper. At first, it was impossible to tell what the pattern was, until she quickly finished cutting out a paper-cut window decoration. When she unfolded it, a beautiful picture was revealed to everyone.
She looked left and right and saw that her friends were still working hard to finish their work. She was secretly delighted to be the first to finish.
Jiajia's mom: "Keep up the good work, Jiajia has already finished!"
Tata was still drawing on the board with a spoon, but it was hard to tell what shape it was. His little hands were trembling and he seemed a little tired, but he didn't give up.
Yu Zhou performed a song for the judges, but forgot halfway through, sang some wrong lyrics, and even broke the shadow puppet's hand. He could only scratch his head sheepishly, which amused the parents.
Universe Mom laughed generously: "Alright, our little one has even ruined the artwork, we're leaving now, you guys keep going."
Gray Gray's hands were covered in mud, and he made a crooked cup. The clumps of mud were almost unrecognizable as a cup. Although he was wearing an apron, mud still got all over his clothes, and his face was covered in mud like a little kitten.
Xuanxuan scribbled and drew randomly on a piece of cloth, having long forgotten any techniques for printing on cloth. She was having a great time, and as long as she was happy, that was all that mattered.
Even the judges couldn't bear to watch, and occasionally they even chuckled to themselves.
Finally, Tata stood in front of the table, put down her spoon, and finished her pig sugar painting.
Village Chief: "Let's see which child will win first place!"
Xuanxuan's blue calico was the first to be eliminated, Yuzhou's shadow puppet was also eliminated due to too many injuries, and Huihui's pottery was crooked and twisted. Only Jiajia and Tata's works were still relatively intact.
The judges were whispering and seemed to be discussing something.
"The paper-cut window decoration is very complete, but it is not very difficult compared to other projects."
"Let's vote then."
Considering the difficulty level, the judges thought Jiajia's paper-cut window decoration was relatively simple, while Tata's little pig was quite beautiful.
Tata ultimately won first place with a unanimous vote.
Village Chief: "Let's give a round of applause to little Tata."
Gray's eyes sparkled; her friend was so amazing: "Tata is so amazing!"
Jiajia wasn't sad because she also really liked Tata's little brother's painting, saying, "Tata's little brother is so amazing!"
Yu Zhou, as the older brother, clapped for his younger brother with extra force.
Seeing the remaining syrup from Tata, Wenxi simply drew several different animals: "Tata, can Mommy draw a few more little animals for you?"
Tata had been craving the animals his mother drew for a very long time, so he immediately ran to his mother's side and said, "Mom, draw some little animals!"
Several children and their parents stared wide-eyed at Wenxi's actions.
Gray Gray's mom craned her neck to look: "Tata's mom, your technique is pretty good."
Jiajia was attracted by the sweet aroma: "Auntie is so amazing!"
Universe Mom asked curiously, "Tata's Mom, did you study art?"
Wen Xi: "No, it's just a hobby."
She used up the last of the syrup, put bamboo skewers on it, and scooped it up with a spatula when it hardened: "Children, this is for you."
Yu Zhou pointed to one of them and winked, "Auntie, can I have this one?"
"all right".
The sugar paintings were instantly snatched up by several children, especially Wen Xi's paintings of Piggy Hero and Peppa Pig, which were very popular among them.
Tata's hand, however, held something different: "Mom, what kind of animal is this?"
Wen Xi: "This is the cartoon Tata."
Tata's eyes lit up. It wasn't an animal, it was Tata: "Mommy, I like it! Thank you, Mommy!"
The village chief said, "Rankings are not important. Through this activity, we want the children to experience the charm of traditional Chinese culture. Only when more children know about it can intangible cultural heritage be passed down."
After the competition, the children held their sugar paintings and listened quietly to the village chief.
The village chief brought over a gift: "Congratulations to our Tata for winning a souvenir from the town's intangible cultural heritage."
Other parents also wanted one, but the children were very satisfied as they ate the sugar paintings in their hands.
Village Chief: "The other children will receive a souvenir from the intangible cultural heritage shop."
Everyone, young and old, received a gift, and everyone was very happy.
In the evening, the villagers of the ancient town prepared a sumptuous dinner for everyone to thank them for their support of intangible cultural heritage.
This intangible cultural heritage journey will be deeply etched in their minds because it is so unique.
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