The traditional craft has been passed down in his family for five generations.

His grandfather was best at figurines of various characters from opera and his father was best at figurines of the eight immortals crossing the sea - characters in Chinese folk stories.

Liu is most famous for making figurines of ancient Chinese ladies.

In 2009, his dough figurines of twelve beautiful ancient ladies was awarded the Shanhua Prize, the top prize for Chinese folk art.

Liu now has more than 600 students across the country.

He said in order to carry forward the skills and go further, dough figurines should have both cultural and commercial value.