A cultural phenomenon

"Because of these connections with Yang, I drew a Tang Dynasty noblewoman that resembles her. The character appears to be dancing, yet her posture and the position of the incense burner exude a sense of poise and balance," she says.

The ornaments worn by the dancing figure also incorporate the motifs found on the incense burner, including the patterns of grapes and birds.

She also sought inspiration from the murals in the Mogao Caves at Gansu province's Dunhuang, as Dunhuang culture was in its prime during the Tang Dynasty, merging clothing elements of the flying apsaras and the dark golden hue of the murals into her illustration.

"It's really a process of constant brainstorming, searching for and selecting elements with connections to the artifacts. For each painting, I start off with a draft based on a simple idea of the character, their posture and their clothing. I try out different possibilities, and then, step by step, present an aura that in my mind matches with the character."

From a more poetic way of thinking, she sees her creation process as an intuitive one, almost as if the artifact or object she's portraying possesses a "spirit of its own".

"When I am drawing, it seems that my subjects are tacitly guiding me to portray the impression they leave on me. It's not as if I am creating something new, but rather transferring their essence to paper," she adds.

Since her Chinese tea culture series helped her to make her mark online, she has gained more than 2 million followers on social media platforms such as Sina Weibo, Bilibili and Xiaohongshu, winning plaudits on the beauty of her artworks.

Xiaohongshu user Youbai says: "I'm absolutely stunned by her drawings that embody the breathtaking Chinese sense of beauty. Those cultural artifacts and mythological creatures, which I once felt detached from, come alive in her drawings. Each character of hers has their own unique story, and these stories make the drawings more vibrant."

Over the years, Wan observed that most of her followers are students at schools or universities, and that Chinese traditional culture is increasingly popular among young people.