Xu displays his work – a model of Eiffel Tower made with bamboo sticks. (Photo/Chinanews.com)

A post-80s Chinese diner owner has become famous on the internet recently for making more than 300 pieces of delicate handicrafts with bamboo sticks in his spare time, Chinanews.com reported on Dec.11.

A 1.3-meter-tall model of Eiffel Tower decorated with beautiful illuminations, a model of the bus to one’s hometown evoking much nostalgia, and a two-story grand villa equipped with all varieties of facilities including a swimming pool, artificial hills, a bridge, a babbling brook, a fountain, and even the famous painting Mona Lisa on the wall, these are all handicrafts made by Xu Ruibin, a wonton restaurant owner in Shijiazhuang city, capital of north China’s Hebei province.

Xu is now a real master craftsman in the eyes of Chinese netizens since his creations went viral on the internet. His creations have also brought extra income to his family, which is making his life better and better.

“Making handicrafts with bamboo sticks was simply a personal hobby at first, and I didn’t expect it to be so successful,” Xu said, disclosing that he was born in Xinye county, Nanyang city of central China’s Henan province, and moved to Shijiazhuang to start their own business with his wife in 2014.

Xu works on his handicraft. (Photo/Chinanews.com)

Xu was attracted to a video showing how to make handicrafts with bamboo sticks in 2016, and studied the techniques on his own while running his wonton restaurant. After three months of self-study, Xu mastered various kinds of techniques for delicate handicrafts with bamboo sticks and found himself enjoying the process so much.

Xu's workbench is a small table about 1 square meter in size located on the narrow passage between the kitchen and the checkout counter. However, such simple and crude equipment seems to have never affected Xu's passion for creation.

“This is something that you need to put your heart into”, said Xu, who explained that he had spent two months building the model of Eiffel Tower and used more than 1,000 pieces of bamboo sticks.

To make such models, one needs to be very precise about the scale and the design, and make sure there is no error in the whole process, expressed Xu, adding that “it’s easy to learn the rudiments of the techniques, but difficult to create really good works”.

Xu said he will continue exploring the crafts and strive to make his creations more delicate and thoughtful, thinking “since I’ve found what I really like to do, I should stick to it.”