Fifteen students from the first and second grades of No 150 Senior Middle School in Changchun, Jilin province, recently spent a week completing a copy of the painting Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, an ancient 25-meter work by Chinese painter Zhang Zeduan in the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

The students, members of the school's painting association, used ball pens to reproduce the painting in its original proportions.

"The association was founded at the end of 2022 to allow more students to experience aesthetic education," said Duan Yingzi, an art teacher at the school. "Art education plays an important role in promoting students' cultural confidence."

Duan was surprised by the students' high level of performance.

"When I chose the famous painting for the students to copy, I believed it would be a difficult task that would require at least a month to finish," she said. "The lines of the painting are rich and complex, and so it needs great concentration and endurance to copy."

She added: "I will take students to feel the unique charm of traditional Chinese painting in different ways in the future."