Gao Siji, an 88-year-old woman living in Hangzhou, capital city of East China's Zhejiang Province, uses kitchen waste — including fish bones, fish scales and shrimp shells — to make handcrafted pictures.

Every once in a while, she visits the aquatic area at her local wet market to pick up waste, which she then repurposes to create stunning handmade pictures.

Gao's artistic creations originated from an incident she had 30 years ago. "As soon as I retired, I went to a senior's college to study arts and crafts. When I ate fish by chance, I found that some fish breast bones and ribs were like chrysanthemum petals." Being inspired, Gao cleaned the fish bones and glued them together to complete her first fish bone picture.

Since then, she has developed her technique, creating pictures using withered flowers, seashells, paper corners, crab feet, fish scales and other food waste.

Gao has made more than 100 artworks over the past 30 years, turning "waste" into wealth.

Gao's environmental protection philosophy has influenced others, and she donates the money she wins from competitions to special education institutions. 

Internet users commended her for discovering the beauty of life and being kind.

Amid the COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control measures earlier this year, Gao wrote a poem to extol the medical workers and community workers and donated money to the Red Cross Society to support the battle against the virus.

"The virus is ruthless, but we have love and benevolence. I want to contribute my effort to the fight against the epidemic," said Gao.

(Source: china.cnr.cn, Hangzhou Daily and comments on the Internet/Translated and edited by Women of China)