Finding the meaning behind surnames

Enthusiast collects business cards, shares cultural information online

In order to obtain a business card from a vendor with an extremely rare family name - Xiang, the character for which means "fragrant" in Chinese - Yang Xiaotie spent 3,000 yuan ($440) on candy to gain the man's trust.

An enthusiast of Chinese family names as well as the stories and culture behind them, the 58-year-old native of Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, goes out of his way to collect name cards and other items related to the surnames of his new friends and even people he has never met.