Security guard wins offer from top art academy

Walking from the east gate of the Central Academy of Fine Arts to its main studio takes less than 30 minutes, but for Li Cheng, a former campus security guard at the academy, the journey has taken almost a decade.

The 28-year-old recently received an official offer from the academy in Beijing, nearly 10 years after his first failed application at the country's top arts academy in 2008.

During his time as a security guard at the east gate, starting in 2012, he sketched workmates on the night shift in a silent hallway. When it came to the day shift, he would memorize English vocabulary.