On both sides of the road in Tantou Town, Longhui County, Hunan Province, one after another, colorful New Year paintings depicting classic figures such as Yuchi Gong and Qin Shubao are particularly eye-catching. This is the famous beachhead New Year's painting. As an ancient town on the banks of the Zishui River in southern Hunan, Tantou Town is known as the "Paper Capital of Southern Chu" and the "Hometown of Modern Folk New Year Paintings". Both Tantou woodblock New Year paintings and Tantou handmade paper-making techniques have been included in the national intangible cultural heritage list. The inheritance and innovation of intangible cultural heritage are the soul of the culture of the ancient town of Tantou. Paper making, engraving, printing, hand drawing... The production of a New Year's painting requires more than 20 processes. The vibrant and moist colors, ancient, exaggerated, full, and personalized modeling methods, pure local materials, and unique craftsmanship give the Tantou New Year paintings a relief like artistic effect. The paper used to make the Tantou New Year paintings is made from the locally abundant bamboo in the mountains through a complex handmade paper-making process, which takes hundreds of days to produce. The paper must be coated with powder, and it is also made from local specialty Tianying stone. The production of New Year paintings adopts a combination of woodcut color matching and hand drawing methods. The New Year painting pigments are made from local minerals, plants, etc., while the New Year painting engraving uses old pear wood that is not easily deformed or cracked in the local area. From handmade papermaking to the completion of New Year painting production, all the processes are carried out in the same place, which is extremely rare in the production of New Year paintings nationwide. The themes of Tantou New Year paintings are divided into three categories: statues, auspicious meanings, and theatrical stories, bearing the imprint of Meishan culture and embodying the people's beautiful wishes. Like the "door gods" Qin Shubao and Yu Chigong protecting peace; Ruyi Granny brings peace and prosperity; 'Mouse Marriage' aims to make the barn prosperous and the house peaceful by marrying off the mouse. With the support of the government, Yin Dongxiang, the provincial-level inheritor of intangible cultural heritage of Tantou New Year paintings, has accelerated the production and innovation of New Year paintings, and trained her daughter Xiao Yang as her successor. On the one hand, her inheritance of New Year paintings is achieved through "going global", participating in exhibitions, exchanges, and training both domestically and internationally, being invited to teach at schools, and showcasing her skills to tourists in scenic areas; On the other hand, 'please come in' and receive teachers and students from universities across the country to study and conduct research projects here, inviting New Year painting enthusiasts to visit and experience. Yin Dongxiang improved the specifications of engraving according to market demand, developed cultural and creative products with New Year painting themes, and taught her daughter how to engrave. At present, they have over 100 sets of New Year's painting engravings. In order to comprehensively protect the Tantou New Year paintings, Longhui County has trained and designated one national level intangible cultural heritage inheritor from each of the three skills of printing, carving, and papermaking. The current national level inheritors of intangible cultural heritage are 59 year old Zhong Jiantong (printed), 50 year old Liu Guoli (carved), and 64 year old Li Zhijun (handmade paper). Liu Guoli learned art from his father at the age of 15. His father's master was Gao Fuchang, the most famous sculptor in Tantou for nearly a hundred years. He pioneered the unique technique of "steep knife standing line". Although there are few New Year painting workshops in Tantou at present, Liu Guoli still maintains his love for sculpture art and believes that "Tantou New Year paintings will not disappear". During the Republic of China period, there were over 2000 paper making workshops and more than 6000 workers in Tantou Town, promoting the integration of culture and tourism. Non local merchants also settled in and established paper mills. Our products in multiple categories, including clay paper, leather paper, colored paper, fragrance paper, rice paper, and cannon paper, are exported to Yunnan, Guizhou, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia. The prosperity of the paper culture on the beach in history has attracted people from all over the world to come here, and has also brought the influence of the beach to all corners of the country. The bustling scene of Tantou in the past has been miniature replicated in the Tantou Woodblock New Year Painting Skills Training Hall. The transmission center covers an area of 6000 square meters with a total investment of over 8 million yuan. Construction began in 2016 and it will officially open in 2022. Entering the study hall is like stepping into a vivid historical scroll of paper culture on the beach. On the first floor, the Tantou New Year's Painting Street has been restored, with 18 exhibition and experiential storefronts showcasing key processes such as New Year's painting printing, carving, manual paper copying, and movable type printing, as well as 3 large classrooms for intangible cultural heritage; The second floor is an exhibition hall for intangible cultural heritage projects such as Tantou New Year paintings, handmade paper making, incense powder paper, flower paper, etc. A group of knowledgeable people have contributed to the protection and promotion of Tantou New Year paintings, and Lu Xianzhong, the sixth generation descendant of Zhongliangmei New Year Painting Workshop, is one of them. He restored the Zhongliangmei old workshop founded by his father-in-law Li Biaozu and has been dedicated to recording, researching, and collecting woodcut New Year paintings in Tantou. Since 2015, he has salvaged a house full of old carved plates. The oldest plate has a history of more than 200 years, and has now collected nearly 600 ancient plates representing the genes of Tantou paper culture, such as New Year paintings, printed paper, wax paper, paper horses, etc., which have been exhibited in Changsha, Beijing and other places. How to utilize intangible cultural heritage to promote the integrated development of culture and tourism? In recent years, Hunan Muxian Lake Tourism Development Co., Ltd. has invested in the construction of the Muxian Lake Ecological Tourism Cultural Park in Chengdong Village, Tantou Town, and has taken over the Tantou Woodblock New Year Painting Skills Training Hall, investing in decoration, management, and operation. Together with the Muxian Lake Ecological Tourism Cultural Park, Handmade Paper Workshop, and Tantou Old Street New Year Painting Workshop, it has formed a distinctive tourism route in Tantou Ancient Town. At the same time, the company also injects modern technology elements and builds a characteristic cultural and tourism comprehensive experience leisure park that integrates functions such as flying campsites, cultural experiences, study tours, and health and leisure. It hopes to better protect and inherit the intangible cultural heritage of the beach through the integration of cultural and tourism development. (New Society)