Hoof care a dying trade in North China

Wang Liangzhen begins by tying a knot around the mule's neck and binding its four legs with a rope, clamping its upper lip with a pair of pliers. Then he starts to work on its feet. Wang is a farrier - a pedicurist, of sorts, whose clients are horses, mules, donkeys and sheep.

Every three days, the people of Wuzhai county in North China's Shanxi province gather at the local bazaar to trade livestock.

Wang waits there for any animals whose feet could use some prettying up.