It's in the bag

It was around then that a thought struck him.

"Many collectors keep my creation in a dark drawer and show nobody else, I felt that they have been used like one-off consumer goods," says Qi.

"I wanted our experience and design to be seen, touched and used by many more people than just the collector community that tends to be a relatively closed circle."

He decided to focus his efforts on creating a mass-market product-a handbag.

To maintain the pureness of the wood and the integrity of his creation, Qi is never afraid to go the extra mile. To make the pattern on all of his products, he refuses to settle for printing or painting, which consume much less time and money. From the eye of a horse to the hairs of a deer or a rabbit, he insists on building up each inch of the pattern with improved, Tang-Dynasty-style wood inlaying techniques, which have an accuracy to the nearest 0.1 mm.