The fine arts of Anyang City include Tangyin paper-cutting, Neihuang peasant paintings, woodblock New Year pictures, wheat straw paintings, lantern paintings, pyrography, eggshell paintings, and clay sculptures.
Tangyin paper-cutting originated before the Tang Dynasty. Tangyin was located in the vicinity of the Shang Dynasty, and the style of its paper-cutting patterns corresponds to the style of bronze artifacts from the Yin Ruins. Furthermore, Tangyin is the birthplace of the I Ching (Book of Changes), and the concepts of Yin and Yang in the Eight Trigrams are incorporated into its paper-cutting works. Tangyin paper-cutting can be categorized into monochrome, multi-color, and pointillist styles based on technique and materials. Tangyin paper-cutting is renowned for its diverse patterns and relatively complete preservation of the original folk art characteristics of northern Henan, primarily featuring auspicious, blessing, and optimistic themes. It also possesses a rustic charm and local flavor, earning it the reputation among experts as a representative of northern Henan paper-cutting.
Neihuang peasant paintings originated from traditional folk painting and belong to the category of popular art; they are a native peasant art form. During the Great Leap Forward, murals and propaganda posters painted by peasants, themed around class struggle, production struggle, and communist ideals, and guided by political demands, formed the basic model of peasant painting. After training in art classes organized by local cultural centers, peasant painters became rising stars of the era. The content and artistic style of Neihuang peasant paintings have become representative of contemporary peasant painting.
Anyang City has a long history of opera, having nurtured numerous local opera genres and excellent plays, forming its own schools of performance art. As of June 2021, Anyang had 10 local opera genres, including Huai Opera, Luoqiang Opera, and Henan Opera.
Huai Opera originated in the Anyang area and has a history of over 1500 years. Its vocal style originated in Zhangde (Anyang), a region bordering Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan provinces. It belongs to the plate-cavity structure and is one of the oldest genres of Chinese Bangzi opera. This opera genre originated in the Sui and Tang dynasties, reaching its peak during the Kangxi and Jiaqing periods of the Qing dynasty. Its content and style are rare in Chinese opera, earning it the reputation of a "living fossil" of Zhongzhou Bangzi opera. In 2007, Huai Opera was included in the first batch of Henan Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage List. In 2011, it was included in the third batch of National Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
Neihuang Luoqiang, originally named "Luoziqiang," is called Luoqiang because of its slow, descending cadence at the end of its singing. Neihuang Luoqiang originated during the Jiaqing period of the Qing dynasty and flourished in the late Qing and early Republican periods. It was listed as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2011. Neihuang Luoqiang's performance art is folk-oriented, a synthesis of the storytelling art "Lianhualuo" and folk tunes. The repertoire primarily focuses on family life; the music and singing style is a combination of traditional tunes and rhythmic patterns, featuring numerous special techniques and specialized instruments. The main instrument, the "wengzi," is handmade by the musicians and possesses a unique timbre. As of April 2022, there are 23 types of vocal music in 6 categories, 58 types of tunes and percussion instruments, 2 special physical techniques, 2 specialized instruments, and 210 oral traditional plays, such as "Borrowing a Hairpin," "Running on the Beach," and "The Lazy Wife Begs for Food."
Calligraphy: Anyang is a renowned city for calligraphy in China, with 74 national-level members of the China Calligraphers Association and 12 national-level members of the China Artists Association.
Regional Symbol: City Tree: The city tree of Anyang is the Chinese scholar tree (Sophora japonica). On November 16, 1985, the 16th session of the 7th Anyang Municipal People's Congress decided that the Chinese scholar tree would be the city tree of Anyang. The Chinese scholar tree (Sophora japonica) is a deciduous tree belonging to the legume family. It is well-suited to the climate and soil conditions of Anyang. A total of 17,000 Chinese scholar trees have been planted as the city tree along many roads in the city, including Donggong Road, Dongfeng Road, and Ziwei Avenue.
The city flower is the crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica), also known as the hundred-day red flower. On February 26, 1984, the 15th meeting of the 6th Anyang Municipal People's Congress Standing Committee decided that the crape myrtle (hundred-day red flower) would be the city flower of Anyang.