Wu Zhiling creates a stone painting. [Photo/Shandian News]

In Rizhao, East China's Shandong province, stones are being turned into canvases that tell stories of tea harvests, mountain views, and everyday life.

Local intangible cultural heritage inheritor Wu Zhiling is using stone paintings to connect traditional culture with modern rural life. Her "stone painting" cultural courtyard has become a community cultural space where locals gather to learn and create.

Drawing inspiration from everyday life, Wu creates stone paintings featuring Rizhao's tea culture, including tea mountains, tea picking, and tea drying scenes during the peak season of the city's green tea products.

Wu Zhiling introduces her stone painting works to visitors. [Photo/Shandian News]

Wu also shares the art with her neighbors. She regularly holds activities at the cultural courtyard and teaches locals basic painting skills, spreading the charm of this intangible cultural heritage.

Each stone painting in the courtyard carries its own story, with exhibitions, cultural fairs and online platforms bringing them wider recognition. The small courtyard has become a quiet testament to how tradition can be kept alive, one stone at a time.