Wuhu iron pictures: marvelous three-dimensional Chinese paintings

Artisan Chu Liwen makes an iron picture in Wuhu city, East China's Anhui province, April 7, 2016. [Photo by Philippe Bourgeois/VCG]

Wuhu iron pictures, one of China's extraordinary artistic forms, are made with hammers instead of pens.

French photographer Philippe Bourgeois visited the origin of iron pictures in Wuhu.

Artisans beat iron to make pictures which look like three-dimensional traditional Chinese paintings.

Due to its unique features and artistic style, iron pictures are popular among collectors at home and abroad since they were first made 300 years ago.

Iron pictures were listed as one of the first batch of China's Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2005.