Recently, artist Cui Xiaoqing’s large-scale outdoor installation *Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix* was officially unveiled and put on display at the south entrance plaza of the Jincheng City Experience Center. The work is a 6×6×3-meter stainless steel installation created using traditional paper-cutting techniques. Its form resembles a blooming “sunflower,” skillfully blending Jincheng’s local culture with contemporary art.
The front of the work features a design that blends the imagery of the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, and the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions. Drawing inspiration from traditional imagery at the Jade Emperor Temple in Fucheng, these elements have been reimagined to form a dynamic cosmic totem. The back of the installation takes local Jincheng myths as its narrative thread—including Nüwa Mending the Sky, the Foolish Old Man Moving Mountains, Shennong Tasting Hundreds of Herbs, and Jingwei Filling the Sea—while incorporating elements of Jincheng’s historic architecture and cultural landmarks. As night falls, LED light strips cast patterns of light and shadow through the openwork carvings, transforming the constellations and architectural silhouettes into twinkling points of light that harmonize with the city’s nightscape.
As the artist’s first public art piece created specifically for Jincheng, *Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix* reimagines the urban landscape from a bird’s-eye view, becoming a new must-visit landmark for residents. Why not visit the Jincheng City Experience Center to keep this springtime rendezvous? Explore the stories of Jincheng woven into the artwork amidst the evening breeze and experience the poetry where art and the starry sky intertwine. (Photography: Zhang Jianqiang)