What drives a family to stick to the traditional papermaking craft against the backdrop of mass-produced paper technology?

Tantou Town is located in southwest of Hunan Province, where bamboos grow in mountains. An ancient handmade papermaking skill has been inherited in Tantou since the Sui Dynasty (581-618), which made Tantou once a renowned papermaking center in central and south China.

Since 2015, Li Qiugui, 35, has been committed to inheriting the ancient craft of handmade paper from his father Li Zhijun with the papermaking techniques such as bamboo cutting, soaking, crushing, squeezing and drying. Li Qiugui wishes that he and his father could promote their own workshop to a papermaking research institute known nationwide.

Li Qiugui scraps bamboo skin at Taolin Village of Tantou Township in Longhui County, central China's Hunan Province, May 22, 2019. (Xinhua/Zeng Yong)

Li Qiugui conveys bamboo sticks at Taolin Village of Tantou Township in Longhui County, central China's Hunan Province, May 22, 2019. (Xinhua/Zeng Yong)

Li Qiugui (1st L) and his parents convey bamboo sticks at Taolin Village of Tantou Township in Longhui County, central China's Hunan Province, June 1, 2019. (Xinhua/Zeng Yong)

Li Qiugui (C) and his parents soak bamboo sticks at Taolin Village of Tantou Township in Longhui County, central China's Hunan Province, June 2, 2019. (Xinhua/Zeng Yong)

Li Qiugui selects bamboo materials after soaking at Taolin Village of Tantou Township in Longhui County, central China's Hunan Province, June 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Zeng Yong)

Li Qiugui conveys bamboo materials to make paper at Taolin Village of Tantou Township in Longhui County, central China's Hunan Province, June 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Zeng Yong)

Li Qiugui crushes bamboo mixtures at his workshop in Tantou Township of Longhui County in Shaoyang City, central China's Hunan Province, June 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Zeng Yong)

Li Qiugui (L) makes paper sheets out of pulp following his father's guidance at his workshop in Tantou Township of Longhui County in Shaoyang City, central China's Hunan Province, June 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Zeng Yong)

Li Zhijun makes paper sheets out of pulp at his workshop in Tantou Township of Longhui County in Shaoyang City, central China's Hunan Province, June 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Zeng Yong)

Li Zhijun makes paper sheets out of pulp at his workshop in Tantou Township of Longhui County in Shaoyang City, central China's Hunan Province, June 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Zeng Yong)

Li Zhijun squeezes water out of paper at his workshop in Tantou Township of Longhui County in Shaoyang City, central China's Hunan Province, June 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Zeng Yong)

Li Qiugui prepares to dry wet paper sheets at his workshop in Tantou Township of Longhui County in Shaoyang City, central China's Hunan Province, June 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Zeng Yong)

Li Qiugui prepares to dry wet paper sheets at his workshop in Tantou Township of Longhui County in Shaoyang City, central China's Hunan Province, June 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Zeng Yong)

Li Qiugui dries wet paper sheets at his workshop in Tantou Township of Longhui County in Shaoyang City, central China's Hunan Province, June 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Zeng Yong)

Li Qiugui uses a pair of bamboo-made tweezers to arrange paper sheets at his workshop in Tantou Township of Longhui County in Shaoyang City, central China's Hunan Province, June 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Zeng Yong)