The Suzhou Taohuawu New Year Woodcut Painting Exhibition opened at the Taicang Museum starting on April 15.

The one-month show was jointly initiated by the Suzhou Municipal Public Center, Suzhou Cultural Center and Suzhou Taohuawu New Year Woodcut Painting Museum. It was co-organized by the Taicang Cultural Center and Taicang Museum.

Taohuawu (“peach dock”) New Year Woodcuts, taken from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in Suzhou, are just as famous as Yangliuqing (“green pillars and willows”) New Year Woodcuts of Tianjin in North China . The two kinds of woodcuts are known as "Southern Peach” and “Northern Willow."

Taohuawu New Year Woodcuts were listed as one of China's national intangible cultural heritages in 2006.

The New Year woodcut prints are made by carving a copy of calligraphy into a block of wood, which is then brushed with watercolors and covered with a sheet of paper to make the printed copy.

The traditional art form has gained a reputation at home and abroad. It spread to Japan, Southeast Asian and European countries as early as the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

About 76 pieces of woodcut works are on exhibit to protect and promote the cultural heritage.