Zheng won instant trust from almost all those he interviewed.

"The disabled just understand each other," Zheng said. But that does not mean the path was smooth. "It's like a pilgrimage full of adversities, but I'm used to the rule that I have to suffer to get anywhere."

Hardship is nothing new to Zheng. He lost his hands as a 1-year-old after he fell into an oven. Holding a spoon with his wrists to eat or a pencil to write, being rejected by universities after passing the exams twice, being turned down by employers who did not believe a handless man could be useful -- he experienced it all.

"It is just because of this that I treasure every job opportunity and devote myself fully to my work," Zheng said.

Zheng got a second-hand camera from a classmate. The then-22-year-old began to manipulate the "intricate machine" with his "bare" wrists and made a living by taking photos for local villagers. He won his first prize in Shanghai with a photo of rural life two years later.

"Photography gave me self-confidence for the first time. I was introverted and cut myself off from the world because it was obvious I was different," Zheng said. "When other photographers greet me and say 'Hey Zheng, great pictures,' I feel I am one of them, and I can produce good work, too."

Zheng finds the joys he lost to deformity in his photography.

"I'm handicapped, but I'm confident and happy, which could partially be attributed to photography. I get joy in a beautiful scene, and more joy when I capture the image in a photograph. There is a 'third joy' when I see it printed and a fourth when winning a prize."

Photography brought Zheng more than a living; it brought him love.

A young woman saw Zheng on TV in the late 1980s. "I was touched that such an outstanding man was living near me," Wang Caifang recalled.

They met through a friend. She was further attracted to Zheng for "his integrity and responsibility as a man to family and society".

Marrying Zheng, however, took courage, Wang said. She married him against opposition from family and friends.

"The most difficult to overcome is the look in their eyes. Many were wondering what happened to me, to marry a man without hands." For many years, she has worked hard to support her family and her husband's photography. She is director of a local branch of an insurance company.

"Now the looks in their eyes have changed from looking down upon us to looking equally at us," she said. "His success proves my success."

She funded Zheng's exhibit with about 300,000 yuan (42,857 U.S. dollars).

"I believe in what he is doing. Each time when I see him laughing, I know he is doing something right, something that really makes him happy."

The husband says a man should leave some spiritual fortune to the world. "I hope my work can be a mirror. The disabled can achieve so much. Looking into the mirror, we, the healthy included, should be more dedicated to our work and dreams," Zheng said.

The inspiring effects are obvious among visitors.