Yang Xin, 62, is a noted artist of traditional Beijing paintings.
His family have been involved in pigment making business since the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Fascinated by paintings since his childhood, Yang acquired the craft of pigment making for traditional Beijing paintings from his mother and became the fifth generation inheritor of this art.
This craft, which extracts pigment from natural materials such as minerals, soil and plants, was listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Chaoyang district of Beijing in 2019.