Jiang Xiuqin, 57, was one of the first batch of farmers employed by Fu Wah's owner, Chan Laiwa, about 20 years ago.

She came from Tongzhou District, then still a rural county in Beijing.

Jiang started to do some woodcarving when she was 16. In those years, a few arts and crafts factories in the city contracted out many jobs for young farmers like Jiang and her neighbors.

"We made palace lamps and other wooden decorative pieces," she recalled.

Chan asked Jiang and a few of her neighbors to show their carving skills before inviting them to work in her workshop.

When they took up their new assignment with Chan, they discovered they'd never done the jobs before.

They first learned to mend ancient Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasty furniture, doors and windows, all made of zitan, red sandalwood.

Then, one day, Jiang was asked to carve a small lion on a piece of zitan.

"I'd never worked on zitan and never carved a lion before," Jiang said. "I remembered sweat soaking my work shirt while I was trying to figure out how and where to start."

Jiang and her co-workers compared notes on their jobs and they were happy that Chan often joined them in the discussions.

"In the end, I did the job, but don't ask me how it looked," she said.

Today, Jiang is a leading artisan, directing many younger workers in their work.

"To us, a good job is one that brings life to the phoenix or the dragon we've carved," she said.

For instance, the eyes of a phoenix must be smiling as the phoenix brings happiness to people, according to traditional Chinese legend.

Like Jiang, many artisans started at Chan's factory with no experience working on zitan wood.

"I didn't have a feel for the wood at that time," said Guo Tianzeng, 56, who had worked as a furniture-maker before taking up a job at Chan's factory.

His new job is also making furniture -- but this time, those that once furnished the imperial households.

"The new job requires a sharp eye, a keen sense for imperial beauty and an expert hand," he said. "We must work with our heart."

Guo said that sometimes he found it difficult to sleep, thinking about his day's work, because of the demands of the job.

Of all his work, he is proudest of his contribution to the reproduction of the corner tower of the Forbidden City. All nine beams, 18 pillars and 72 eaves were fixed together by mortises and tenons.

Zhu Shengliang, 40, once managed a small team of carvers in Dongyang County, east China's Zhejiang Province.

"I came here in 1996 because I heard that Chan's factory needed good woodcarvers."

The work that won him a job was a red sandalwood bottle.

But once he started, he found he was not used to the more canny style of woodcarving in north China.

"It took some time before I became comfortable with the style," Zhu said.

Meanwhile, he learned to combine both the northern and southern styles when he was carving the different figures, horses and mules for a set of 12 screens depicting the Qingming Shanghe Tu -- which translates as Panorama of the Bian River in the Northern Song Dynasty -- at the museum.

The work is based on the master painting of the same name by Zhang Zeduan of the Song Dynasty.

Zhang's 5.3-meter-long hand scroll is internationally famous for its depiction of the social life of Bianjing, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1279). It portrays more than 500 people from all walks of life and gives details of their city environment.

The set of screens is considered one of the most important artworks in Chan's red sandalwood museum today.

As Zhu Jiajin, renowned historian and researcher of the Palace Museum, points out, the set of screens has "integrated ancient Chinese painting art with the carving art."

(China Daily January 22, 2003)