Amputee achieves viral fame with excellent clay sculptures

(ECNS) -- A man surnamed Mi, 40, has achieved viral fame on Chinese social media by creating delicate clay sculptures with broken legs.

Mi lost his hands after he was hit by high-voltage electricity in 2003. In more than a year of recuperating at home, he did not abandon himself, but strived to eat and dress himself with only his legs.

Later, he decided to learn a skill to earn a living.

"I noticed the dough modeling art, which was popular in my hometown during festivals," Mi said.

Mi's friends introduced him to a dough modeling master. Since then, he has been making efforts to illuminate his life with invisible hands.

The first step is always the hardest.In the very beginning, it took Mi a whole day to make a simple dough rose.

After hard practice day and night, he can now complete a sculpture within five to seven minutes, a normal speed for this type of creation.

“The initial raw material of my works was drawn from dough, which need to be steamed and kneaded. It was time-consuming and scalded me often," Mi said.

He later turned to clay, which is more suitable to modeling.

In 2007, Mi left his hometown in Shangqiu and began to sell clay sculptures on the streets of big cities.

For more than ten years, he has lived a wandering life in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and others.

Mi stayed in each city for only four or five months. "Mostly I set up my stall near famous attractions in first and second-tier cities, where it is usually crowded," he said.

To earn more money, he rarely returned home during festivals. With his legs alone, Mi feeds a family of five and supports three children at school.

He believes there is a promising future ahead.

"I'm happy to see my children go to school, and my hard work is nothing," he said.