With a camera given as a gift by an expert, Zhang started to record the painted clay statues in the temples in Shanxi and in 2011, his first book introducing the art form was published by Hebei Fine Arts Publishing House. In 2019, he opened a WeChat account, posting more than 100 original articles telling the stories about Shanxi's cultural relics protection.
In the past three decades, Zhang has received more than 500,000 visitors from home and abroad.
"From these statues, we can see the wisdom of the ancient Chinese and the profundity of our culture," Zhang says, adding he hopes that more people can participate in the protection of cultural relics and jointly explore the charm of traditional culture.
