A folk artist in north China's Shanxi Province has made a 140-meter paper cut of Mao Zedong in the hope of making the Guinness Book of World Records.

Feng Wenzhen, from Changzhi City, spent eight months on the project based on 111 pictures of the leader taken from the 1920s to the 1970s.

Feng, 49, is a war veteran who works at an opera house in Changzhi.
He took up the art in 1996 and has cut images of many of China's historically significant people.

One of his recent works is a 35-meter long, 0.9-meter wide work featuring Guan Yu, a general known for bravery and loyalty in the ancient Three Kingdoms Period from 220 to 280. He also cut a portrait of late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping to mark his centenary on August 22.
Paper cutting, or "window design," is popular in China.

To celebrate traditional festivals, weddings or birthdays, Chinese decorate their doors, windows, ceilings, suitcases with the decorations.

It is unknown when paper cutting started in China although it is believed to have existed in Shanxi Province for at least 600 years.
 
(Xinhua News Agency September 20, 2004)