(Chinanews.com/Liu Ranyang)

Huilong is a village with a 100-year history of birdcage making, with most villagers now experts at this art. Expensive birdcages made by top craftsman go for as much as over 100,000 RMB ($14,989).

The village is located in Kunming, southwestern China's Yunnan province where birdcages are found in almost every household.

All birdcages in the village are handmade. They are quite popular with both domestic and foreign customers because of the fine craft and engraving.

(Chinanews.com/Liu Ranyang)

As a result, birdcage making has become a featured industry for villagers to augment their incomes.

Yang Chun, a major birdcage craftsman in the village says they are generally divided into two categories: plain and engraved cages. According to him, each process of birdcage-making is a crucial step that challenges craftsmen's skills.

(Chinanews.com/Liu Ranyang)

Birdcages made by masters such as Yang are normally customized rather than being massively produced. But birdcage-making already went industrial in the village in 2006. A cooperative was set up with over 100 craftsmen.