The Shanxi Department of Culture and Tourism on Jan 14 released a cultural and tourism cartoon image for the Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger, to be used throughout North China's Shanxi province.

A poster of Jinhu gives its festival blessings. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] 

The tiger design motifs exist in Shanxi's intangible cultural heritage such as dough sculptures, embroidery, papercuts, brick carvings and colored glaze, and are closely related to folk customs and craftsmanship in the province.

Another colorful Jinhu poster [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The new cartoon image called Jinhu – or Shanxi tiger in Chinese – integrates the stroke structure of the Chinese character Jin (Shanxi in Chinese) with the facial features of the Lihou cloth-made tiger, a renowned intangible cultural heritage item popular in the local Lihou town in Licheng county, combining traditional folk customs and modern fashion.

A Lihou cloth-made tiger shows his teeth. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

It will be used as a cultural and tourism image, representative of Shanxi, to welcome visitors from across China during the coming Spring Festival holiday from Jan 31 to Feb 6.