Coconut carving calls for great patience and sometimes Zhang can sit in his chair without leaving it from 8 am to mid-noon. [Photo by Liu Xiaoli/China Daily]

"We spent the whole year on those two vases," Zhang says.

With those two works, Zhang's fame in the craft was assured.

The Hainan government also gave one of Zhang's works as a gift to Singapore's prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, in 2013.

Ten years earlier, Zhang had left the carving factory but remained devoted to his craft.

"The factory shut down and most of the workers moved on to other things," he says. "Only a few are still coconut carvers."

Zhang has been invited to various cities and counties in Hainan to teach young people the craft, and at one stage he had a shop in Haikou in which he gave lessons free of charge. However, he was forced to close the shop after a year because the rent was too onerous.

Zhang has had many students from far and wide, including overseas, over the years, but most have eventually given up, he says.

"You can't really pass on your carving skills that easily, and it is difficult to make enough money to make ends meet, especially if you have a family to support. Still, I really want the craft to continue, so I am willing to teach anyone who is willing to learn."

This year Zhang, never too old to learn, went to Suzhou, Jiangsu province, to learn something more about his craft.