There were over 30,000 practitioners of jade carving in the past, but the art form now faces a risk of being lost. The changing times have resulted in aesthetic fatigue of jade carving.

Zhang Hong, a painter in Suzhou, established a training class for jade carving with the Zhongshan Institute for Advanced Study, aiming to improve the ability of aestheticism and modeling. The training class has appealed to 600 students from Zhejiang, Henan and Anhui provinces since its opening in 2006 and can hold 100 students at a time. The graduates have gained success in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou.

Jade carving training classes are divided into 20 sections, consisting of sketch, fine brushwork and clay sculpting. According to Zhang Hong, this model of training will transform two-dimensional designs into three-dimensional shapes.

Although Zhang Hong was not born a jade carving artist, the education in the training class gives him confidence in his teaching ability.