The craftswoman Aimee in the Peking Opera phoenix coronet

Aimee, a craftswoman from Chengdu, in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, spent more than 200 hours making a delicate Peking Opera phoenix coronet, out of 18 used beverage cans, in August 2019.

The Peking Opera phoenix coronet made by Aimee

After she uploaded the video, in which she documented how she made the phoenix coronet, to bilibili, a Chinese video-sharing site, she quickly became popular on Chinese social media. Numerous netizens were impressed by her beautiful works.

Aimee

Aimee, who had graduated from North Sichuan Medical College, in Nanchong, Sichuan Province, had worked as a nurse for two years. Three years ago, she gave up her medical career, and she began working as a cosmetician.

As she had long had an interest in making crafts, Aimee, in September 2018, began recreating the beautiful head pieces that Chinese women wore in history, documented in ancient books, such as The Classic of Mountains and Seas, and as depicted in popular TV shows, such as Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace, and in ancient paintings, including The Portrait of Flower-wearing Maids.

The craftswoman Aimee in the Peking Opera phoenix coronet

The Peking Opera phoenix coronet made by Aimee

In December 2019, Aimee was invited to the University of Oxford, in England, to give a speech, entitled The 10,000 Creation Possibilities in China. In that speech, she told her story of how she became a craftswoman, and she shared her experience in making the amazing works out of waste, such as used cans. Aimee has created dozens of works to date, and she has uploaded more than 100 videos to bilibili. The total number of views has reached 7.8 million.

"The Chinese style is loved by people because of its unique beauty. Beauty itself is inspiration. That's why I love a diversified Chinese style. I hope more people will join in the creation of Chinese-style crafts," says Aimee.

The craftswoman Aimee in the Peking Opera phoenix coronet

Photos Supplied by AIMEE

(Source: Women of China English Monthly June 2020 issue)