All fired up

"The clay is ideal for precision sculpting," Li says. "You can sculpt the tiniest characters and such delicate patterns that require a magnifying glass to appreciate."

As a boy, Li used to swim across a river to see experienced artisans making their pottery, and he would play with the clay and try to follow suit.

He started working at a local Nixing pottery plant in 1973, where he managed to master all pottery modeling and decoration methods within the space of a year.

The training was supposed to take three years to complete.

"I loved pottery so much that I put a lot of extra effort into it," Li says.

It didn't take long before Li made his way up to become a workshop director.

In 1981, opportunity knocked on Li's door, helping him to grow from being an employee in a pottery plant to an artist later in life.

His hardworking attitude and knowledge of exquisite Nixing pottery techniques then impressed visiting experts from the Central Academy of Art and Design, the predecessor of Tsinghua University's Academy of Arts and Design.

The Beijing institution took him in and systematically taught him about the art of pottery.

Li didn't waste a minute during his stay at the academy and completed the four-year curriculum in two years.

"Working at the plant made me better understand the theories behind pottery and how to put them into practice," Li says.

He returned to the Qinzhou plant after he finished his studies in Beijing to work in pottery design and development.

He would make several items on a daily basis.

"If you love the industry, you won't have any distracting thoughts," Li says.

Li managed to produce more than 20 Nixing pottery products that won national awards by the end of the first year back then and helped the plant to raise its annual output from 2 million yuan ($294,600) to 6 million yuan.

"My designs focus on practicality," Li says.

For example, teapots should be not just pleasing to the eye, but also user-friendly, he explains.

"It should be easy to hold and keep the water flow on track, and its price should also be well within a consumer's budget."

Despite Li's feat, the Qinzhou plant faced trouble in the late 90s when China's State-owned businesses went through a period of restructuring.

"Production was halted due to a lack of innovation (in management) and debts," Li recalls.