Frozen in time

Li Qinghua's only giveaway is his snotty nose.

Covered in a dark copper color, the long-haired 30-year-old is dragging his rickshaw along Wangfujing's pedestrian street. His cheeks, the tip of his nose, the outline of his ears, his elbows and even the wrinkles of his clothes are gilded by a golden-bronze paint.

"I'm sure the sculpture was about 10 m from where I'm standing, but now it is right behind me," says a puzzled passer-by.

"I move forward slowly and quietly, and I'm not supposed to grin at people, as that might scare away the kids," says Li, founder of Black of Xiangzi Art Troupe (BXAT), Beijing's only art community engaged in bronze sculpture performance art.

BXAT is celebrating its 10th anniversary with performers appearing in places like Wangfujing, Happy Valley and Lotus Park, "sculpting" themselves into various shapes and styles.

Along the street in Wangfujung, a waiter from a traditional Chinese teahouse freezes as he passes a towel to someone in the audience. An aristocrat wearing Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) attire makes chirping sounds to a bird jumping in a cage, a shabbily dressed vendor carries coal on a shoulder pole. A sugar-coated-haws peddler in old Beijing puts one hand over his O-shaped mouth.

Hours later, the group change poses and perform the "eight wacky tricks", the eight best-known stunts of old Tianqiao (Bridge of Heaven), close to the Temple of Heaven.

Standing in contrast to their modern surroundings, these living sculptures tell delightful tales of the past.

There's Big Golden Tooth, a peepshow performer; Pockmarked Cao, a storyteller with a funny bone; Fear No Poverty, founder of comic monologue; Little Pigtail Wang, a flag pole performer; Limber Donkey, who is dressed up as animal; Hard-hand Chang, a rock smasher; Shensan, a master wrestler; and Silly Cheng, a trainer of a bear.

At midday, dragging their stiff bodies back to a makeshift dressing room of Beijing APM Apartment, the "sculptures" finally get to rest and satisfy their hunger with sandwiches or noodles.

Qu Zongbo, a 28-year-old street entertainer, has trouble moving his rigid arm after four hours of playing a porter.

He is careful while peeling the paint on his lip as he nibbles on his snacks. "I have to protect my makeup, or it will look unnatural if I apply it again."

But the worst part is removing the makeup's three layers - the base, the thick bronze paint and the golden powder.

"Whatever the season, we have to wash off the paint with cold water and soap repeatedly to get it off," says Li. "Performance art such as living sculpture needs years of painful practice. We are not supposed to blink, scratch or cough. Beside suffering the bitter cold in winter and the intense heat in summer, performers have to also put up with skin injuries caused by all that paint."

But it makes it worthwhile, "when passengers cast a appreciative look, laugh and comment," he says.

Wangfujing, Dongcheng district

东城区王府井

Lotus Park, 48 Lianhuachi Lu, Fengtai district, 6346-6607. 丰台区莲花池路48号

Happy Valley, North Xiaowuji Lu, East Fourth Ring Road, Chaoyang district, 6738-3333.朝阳区东四环小武基北路