In December 2020, the Culture and Tourism Bureau of Changhai County awarded Cai Changyun the recognition certificate of “County-Level Representative Inheritor of Changhai County Intangible Cultural Heritage Project: Changhai Folk Paper-Cutting”. It not only highlights the official recognition of Cai’s dedication and achievements in the past 30 years, but serves as the inheritance and development of the rich paper-cutting culture of Zhangzidao Town.

Cai’s paper-cutting works are brimming with an atmosphere of auspiciousness, as can be reflected in a large piece, about half a meter long, that hangs in her home. The corners of this work are peonies that symbolize prosperity and red peaches with hanging branches that represent health. The central part displays bats (signifying good fortune and longevity), a rooster, a monkey, and a goat, which together embrace a blossoming camellia, with magpies round the branches.

Cai’s best skill is “blind cutting”, a technique where she folds the paper and cuts it according to patterns in her mind, without stopping to reflect. Other people have no idea what she will cut out, while her hands follow her heart and cut the paper into shape, bringing to life the art world within her heart, as well as the luxuriant flowers and trees, lively birds and beasts, the sun, moon and stars, majestic mountains and rivers in her dreams.