This photo taken on Feb 9, 2021 from the Facebook account of Lee Yim Kee shows a flower plaque made by the shop in Hong Kong for the upcoming Lunar New Year.

HONG KONG - With slow and careful strokes, Lee Chui-lan, 67, was drawing the outline of a big, bright purple Chinese character in a small studio of Nam Pin Wai, a walled village in Hong Kong's Yuen Long district.

"A fine piece should be slowly crafted," she said, citing a Chinese proverb.

In Chinese calligraphy, the character, about 0.5 meter long and wide, carries the meaning of auspiciousness, thus widely seen in blessings for the Lunar New Year.

Flower plaques are big banners made of paper and bamboo that are erected at festive celebrations, weddings and inaugurations. They feature auspicious colorful patterns and blessings written in Chinese calligraphy

Painting such characters is an important part of making a flower plaque, a traditional craft in Hong Kong.

Flower plaques are big banners made of paper and bamboo that are erected at festive celebrations, weddings and inaugurations. Flower plaques feature auspicious colorful patterns, including Chinese dragons and phoenixes and flowers in full blossom, and blessings written in Chinese calligraphy. A big one can be as high as a three-story building.

The craft is always passed down in a family for generations.

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A masterpiece made by Lee's father decades ago is still preserved in their shop. "The Ao handmade by my father has been repainted but its framework is over 60 years old," Lee said, pointing at the pattern of the creature in Chinese mythologies.

Since her childhood, Lee has begun to work for the family business, a shop known as Lee Yim Kee, which was set up by her father Lee Kam-yim in 1954.

She witnessed the 30-year booming period of the industry starting 1950s. Whenever there was a festive celebration, a new store, a wedding, the birth of a new baby or even moving to a better house, there were flower plaques erected at the most noticeable place.

This photo taken on Feb 9, 2021 from the Facebook account of Lee Yim Kee shows a flower plaque made by the shop in Hong Kong for a new store opening.

In the age before cell phones and internet, "flower plaques had the function of publicity to inform passersby of the happy events," Lee said. "The richer the family, the bigger the flower plaques."

Shops selling flower plaques could be found all over Hong Kong thanks to the strong demand, but only several workshops that still practice the craft exist nowadays

Shops selling flower plaques could be found all over Hong Kong thanks to the strong demand, she said.

But the good old days of the craft have passed. Only several workshops still exist nowadays, all in remote areas.

To become a flower plaque craftsman, there is much to learn and a long period to polish the skills, but the incomes are low. "Some (young) people became apprentices in the morning and decided to quit in the afternoon," Lee said.

In 2014, while flower plaques were brought into the first list of Hong Kong's intangible cultural heritage, Lee, facing so many difficulties in running the business, had a hard choice to make: whether or not she should just close the shop.

Then she found Nai Tsun-lam, born in the 1980s, who now is the third-generation operator of Lee Yim Kee.

Nai disagrees that the industry is declining.

"We always have customers who love traditional things," he said, adding that festivals from the Chinese Lunar New Year to the Birthday of Tin Hau and Cheung Chau Jiao Festival are all peak seasons for flower plaque shops.

This photo taken on Feb 9, 2021 from the Facebook account of Lee Yim Kee shows a flower plaque made by the shop in Hong Kong for the upcoming Lunar New Year.

Nai is working hard to make the old craft catch up with the latest trend.

He registered a social media account for the shop and uploaded photos and videos about the stories of Lee Yim Kee and flower plaques. While traditional flower plaques are gigantic and normally for outdoor celebrations, he developed smaller products that can be displayed indoor.

His efforts finally paid off.

Flower plaques are always linked with happiness and blessings. No matter how hard the life is, as long as we have flower plaques, there will always be hope.

Nai Tsun-lam, Third-generation operator of Lee Yim Kee

During the Lunar New Year holiday in 2016, a giant flower plaque produced by Lee Yim Kee was on display for over 20 days in Times Square, a busy shopping area in the commercial district of Causeway Bay.

The huge piece of art, eight meters high and 33 meters long, became a smash hit.

The most traditional could be the most fashionable. "I never thought flower plaques would be displayed in such a place," he said.

The exposure brought more opportunities. Shortly afterward, Nai was invited to show his work at an international tattoo expo as the organizer told him that flower plaques could help foreign guests quickly get a grasp of Hong Kong's traditions.

While bringing modern ideas to flower plaques, Nai still firmly believes that the traditional elements such as Chinese calligraphy and auspicious patterns are the root.

"We can create new designs and new styles at any time but if the traditional spirit is lost, the craft will disappear and can never come back," he said.

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Like many other sectors, the industry of flower plaques also suffered amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Lee Yim Kee only received over 40 orders for the upcoming Lunar New Year, significantly down from about 80 previously. But Nai remained optimistic.

"Flower plaques are always linked with happiness and blessings," he said. "No matter how hard the life is, as long as we have flower plaques, there will always be hope."