In 1959, he had to withdraw from an aeronautical academy due to health problems. By coincidence, he was introduced to a second-generation bristle doll artist, Wang Hanqing. After seeing Bai's art works, Wang invited him to learn the techniques of making bristle dolls in order to pass on the craft created by Wang's father.

"The charm of bristle dolls is that they contain the nation's rich culture," said Bai. He said there were a story and a piece of history behind every doll.

Besides inheriting the techniques of the Wang family, Bai has made some reforms and innovations. Bristle dolls used to simply have a cone under the waist, while Bai has added legs and shoes to every doll. What's more, he also improved the craft of face painting and the dresses of dolls to make them more complicated and delicate.

The 67-year-old craftsman, who used to take manufacturing and the performances of bristle dolls as his livelihood, now regards passing on the craft as his biggest responsibility and most urgent task. He doesn't want the ancient craft to die with him. Several years ago, he had the entire process of making a bristle doll recorded by China Central Television, but he now thinks that's not enough.

"I am willing to pass on all I know about the bristle doll art to apprentices selected from the Internet," said Bai, who became one of the first batch of folk artists participating in Tencent's initiative.

"The protection of traditional arts and non-material cultural heritage requires the attention of people of all walks of life, especially young people. In attracting youth, the Internet can be very helpful.

"The traditional media have limitations in disseminating information on folk arts while the advantages of the Internet greatly reduce the dissemination cost," said Xu Chenye, Vice President of Tencent. He expressed the hope that his company's website could effectively spread the idea of protecting traditional culture among the public. Xu also said his company wanted to play the role of a bridge, linking people of common interests and hobbies in traditional arts with elderly folk artists in an efficient way. The chat software developed by Tencent has millions of registered users.

"We wouldn't have so much confidence in this campaign without the partnership of the Chinese Young Volunteers Association, but its nationwide network of 17 million volunteers means our cooperation will have powerful force," said Xu.

Many people believe that the proper qualification of folk artists holds the key to protection of the nation's non-material heritage; allowing unqualified craftsman to pass on the craft, however, would prove destructive. In response to such worries, Xu said the qualifications of all folk craftsmen in this activity would be carefully checked according to regulations and industry rules.

However, Bai's qualifications are not in doubt, as far as Xu is concerned. Bai's bristle dolls were showcased at two international folk arts expos representing China's folk arts and he was also invited by the Paris-based France-China Association to lecture on Chinese folks arts at schools in major French cities, Xu points out. As an activist in salvaging cultural heritage, Bai has a large personal collection of various folk art works.

Of Beijing's efforts to host a humanistic Olympics in 2008, one important initiative is to promote China's traditional arts by showcasing them on the sidelines of the games. In line with this initiative, Beijing launched a citywide census on non-material heritage resources last July, and this will be finished by the end of this year. The goals of this census are to save the crafts facing extinction and draft a directory of folk arts performances for the 2008 Olympics.

Tang said she had made up her mind to learn the bristle doll craft from Bai to fulfill her two dreams of becoming an Olympic volunteer and participating in cultural promotion activities during the Games.

Bai's requirements are quite demanding. Candidates must not be profit-driven in learning the art and must have deep knowledge of China's traditional arts and history and some knowledge of stage performance and traditional operas.

Tang believes she meets all the requirements. "Cultural heritage is a bond linking the past and the future as well as the root of China's prospective innovation-driven society," she insists. "Innovation can only be based on the protection of heritage."

She said that, as a history major, she strongly opposes the perception that protection of traditional crafts is a burden of modernization. Instead, she believes that it should be treated as a component of modernization. She gives an example that a technique in producing bronze ware invented in China thousands of years ago was adopted in Germany in manufacturing high-performance gears and borrowed in the United States in making turbo fans for the early jet planes. In comparison, such a technique was lost in China.

"I will be as persistent as an Olympic athlete in learning the craft," she said ardently.