The China Academy of Art’s 19th Autumn Leaves Art Festival in Hangzhou, eastern China, reimagines fallen leaves as poetry, painting and playful sculpture. What may sound like a fanciful idea is brought to life as artists transform autumn litter into recycled installations and immersive scenes.

Visitors can walk on a leaf “carpet” that responds underfoot, sit among leaf-built elephants, rabbits and giraffes, and wander caramel-coloured sets that feel lifted from a fairy tale. The works blur boundaries between species and play, inviting childlike wonder in bright sunlight.

More than 20 leaf-sculpture pieces are installed at multiple sites across Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province in eastern China. The festival runs through January 20, 2026, offering plenty of time for locals and visitors to see how a season’s castoff can become a citywide art show.