'Practice takes you to gateway'

Cheng Shumei, 62, is happy to see her beloved profession passed on to the next generation. The national master of inlaid filigree instructs her son and daughter-in-law in her 50 sq m workshop in a basement of a residential area in Chaoyang district, Beijing.

Filigree and inlaying is a fine craftwork with a long tradition. The worker braids gold or silver wires into the base and chisels patterns on it, before inlaying pearls and gems.

Having learned painting in her childhood, Cheng began to study arts and crafts design at the Beijing Filigree Factory in the 1970s when masters' pieces were exported overseas.