A work of Zhang. [Photo by Liu Xiaoli/China Daily]

The job calls for great patience－which is perfect for Zhang, who sees himself as a very patient man－and it takes about a month to produce a single carving.

The factory Zhang first worked in received many orders before the 1980s, and most were tourist souvenirs. But Zhang considered that there was more to his craft than that, and he studied hard with his teachers Lin Shixian, Gao Yusheng and Chen Yijin, renowned coconut carving masters in Hainan.

The dedication paid off when Zhang was chosen to work on two vases made from coconut shells that the government of Hainan was to present to Macao as a gift in 1999. Zhang was one of just 300 workers chosen to work on the project.

"It was a great honor and I was extremely proud," Zhang says.

Those in the craft regard the two vases, 1.99 meters high, with a maximum diameter of 800 centimeters, and weighing 80 kilogram each, as masterpieces. They are made from 5,200 coconut shells of similar color and luster, and about 32,000 sweet-scented osmanthus and 60,000 grains of sand form part of the finished vases.