In Guangxi, the Chinese festival from April 17 to 20 this year is an important occasion to sing in the antiphonal (call-and-response) style to find love and make new friends, as well as to worship ancestors and pray for a good harvest. It is observed by many of the region's ethnic groups, including the Zhuang, Yao, Miao, and Dong.

The exhibition is part of a national pilot program that uses copyright to protect folk arts and turn them into sustainable businesses.

The program was developed to enable artisans to register their designs, prevent cheap copies, license their work to companies and develop products, according to the exhibition's organizers.

Bai Yaohua has been surrounded by eager customers curious about the details of the horn sculptures.

At Bai's booth, practical items, such as horn combs, sit alongside artistic works priced above 10,000 yuan ($1,463).

One of his masterpieces, Spring Tide, captures the precise moment a school of prawns bursts through a breaking wave — their antennae curved and their bodies translucent.