Jinshan Farmer Painting [Photo/jsqnw.gov.cn]

Recently there are more visitors to the village, and many are enjoying something completely different from the relaxed, down-home appeal of the village. China’s first “upside-down house” recently opened to the public inside the village. Occupying an area of 200 square meters, the optical illusion is the only two-story upside-down building in the world. Visitors will be amazed from the first moment when stepping into the building. The bed and sofa seem to be on the ceiling, creating an unreal feeling that visitors are walking in the air, upside down.

It is suggested that old visitors not linger too long inside the room, as it might cause giddiness.

Some visitors even claim that because of this visual game, they feel that they are walking on a cloud.

Chen Huifang and Wang Meiying

For Chen Huifang, this family spans four generations. Now 44, the charismatic Chen began painting as a child, inspired by her father who painted on traditional wood stoves as a hobby when he was back from working in the fields.

“My parents were working in the fields from morning to night,” recalls Chen. “My sister and I would be home alone, bored, and so we turned to imitating my father’s paintings.”

The hobby stuck, and she became a full-time artist in 1988. Her sister also has a studio around Fengjing.

Today, Chen and her mother, Wang Meiying, share a workspace in the village.

Wang farmed until the 1980s when someone took over their farmland. With time to spare, her mother turned to painting with her husband and daughters.

“My son paints as well, but as he is currently in university with no intention to pursue this as a career, it is merely an interest.”

Like her son, Chen had not intended to go into painting in the first place. “I studied landscaping in high school, and I was intending to work in the industry,” says Chen.

“But I was really passionate about drawing, and realistically speaking I earned more as a painter than at my temporary job at a park. I eventually decided to become a farmer painter.”

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