Teacher shares growing passion for paper folding

A copy of origami master Kamiya Satoshi's Ryujin made by Qiang Shengwu.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Qiang has shared his passion for origami with his students.

"One day I showed an origami boomerang to my class, which aroused great interest among the students," Qiang said. "I began to show them some basic techniques and make some entry-level works with them."

Qiang was inundated with questions and requests for technical guidance, even after class. "Origami is not a single art form. It's a kind of science, which includes knowledge of physics and geometry," he said. "It also allows practitioners to express individual interpretation and creativity."

Qiang cited the example of Sun Hongtao, a student from Shandong Experimental High School, whose university enrollment score was lowered by 60 points because of his outstanding skill in paper folding.

"Although he failed to get into the Harbin Institute of Technology, for one of the leading universities in the country to take this stance shows the effect of origami on students' comprehensive development."

Besides practicing origami, Qiang spends most of his spare time talking to people who dabble in origami all over the world.

"It's free to talk to anyone on the internet," Qiong said. "We can discuss the hobby and exchange experiences."

As his reputation has grown, so too has the number of people looking to him for advice. To date, he has completed hundreds of origami works. "I send some to my friends as gifts," he said, "and I feel particularly pleased when I see them treasure my works."