Artist spends 20 years perfecting craft of fruit pit carving

Photo shows Li Wenbin working on a fruit pit carving in his studio in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Online/Gao Jiawei)

Li Wenbin, an artist from northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, has been producing ingenious fruit pit carvings, a kind of Chinese folk handicraft that has been listed as a national-level intangible cultural heritage, for over 20 years.

According to Li, the first step in mastering the skill is to cultivate a passion for it, and then committing yourself to practicing it day in and day out. During his engraving process, Li always pays a great deal of attention to tiny details such as the height of a figure's cheekbone and the depth of his/her eye socket, so as to make the character true to life.

"Fruit pits are commonly regarded as things to be discarded, but I see them as raw materials for making crafts," Li said. Li has carved various works on fruit pits, including minute figures of Buddha and goldfish, to name just a few.

"The only way to create a lifelike handicraft is to apply yourself to the carving," Li said.