The town staged an arts festival between Aug 13 and 19 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the founding of the local Barbizon Painting School.

The original Barbizon School was established by a group of French artists, including Theodore Rousseau and Jean-Francois Millet, who abandoned formalism. They drew inspiration directly from nature in the 19th century. Its leaders took the name from the village of Barbizon in France.

Fast forward to 1987. Chinese painters who had visited France brought the artistic approach to Guyan Painting Township, which shares some similarities with Barbizon. They started to paint it in tribute to those French artists.

(Edited by Ye Ke)