AWARDED PIECE: The jade sculpture The Cute Toads made by Lang Xiaofeng won first prize at the People's Hundred Flowers Awards in 2009 (SHI GANG)

The only choice

Although Lang has become renowned for his jade work, sculpting was not his initial career choice. He instead developed an affinity for painting early on.

Lang was born in Beijing in 1970. Growing up in the dense cultural atmosphere of the capital, Lang dreamed of becoming a great painter like Qi Baishi (1864-1957) or Xu Beihong (1895-1953). "I was first exposed to painting in primary and middle school. It was then when I believed I could make an impression on the world through painting," Lang told Beijing Review in his studio on August 28.

"I hoped to enter the Beijing-based Central Academy of Fine Arts, the best art university in China," Lang said. "However, I had to choose a different path after graduating from middle school. I failed to pass the high school entrance exam. Then, quite unexpectedly, I was sent to a vocational school by my parents to study jade sculpture. I had to suppress my dream of becoming a painter when I went to the school in 1986."

Four years later, Lang was assigned to work at Beijing Jade Ware Factory as a craftsman. On his first day, Lang told himself that he should shed his desire to paint and focus instead on crafting jade.

"At that time, I had no choice."

Lang gradually changed his attitude toward jade and developed a passion for sculpting on the job. "I began to take immense pleasure in the fact that by using my bare hands, I could turn a piece of stone into a beautiful work of art. I could express my ideas through sculpture," said Lang.

Despite his newfound enthusiasm, sculpting jade came with its life lessons.

"I was making a statuette called The Fair Lady. I poorly carved the head of the figure. Immediately, I cut the head off with my graver and thought the rest could be salvaged into something else. But my master became angry. My master is a descendant of a traditional jade sculpting family. He cherished jade materials very much," Lang recalled.