Designer mug celebrates Year of the Pig

This wonderfully lifelike pig sits upright on the table with its four hooves facing forward and its snout as the mug lid.

In addition, the pig carries on its right-hand side Marshal Canopy's weapon of choice — a "nine-tooth iron muck-rake." The handle of the "muck-rake" is in fact a straw made from natural bamboo, and it is possible this is the first time that such a design has been used in a mug, Shi said.

On its chest the pig holds a sycee, an ingot used for currency in ancient China, which represents wealth. Users can strain the tea leaves with ease by simply moving the sycee on the outside as it is attached to the infuser inside the mug, Shi said.

When placed sideways, the mug will "stand" on its four hooves; as the front two hooves are shorter, the mug tilts slightly forward and drains the liquid.

Shi,a longtime  Beijing resident, was born in 1964 to parents who moved to Taiwan from the Chinese mainland in 1949.

At 21, he left Taiwan to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and later worked as a designer for the luxury jewelry company Harry Winston.

In 1996, he won the DeBeers Diamonds International Award, equivalent to the Oscars of the jewelry world.

He was honored with the Red Dot Design Award four years in a row, from 2009 to 2012, for designs that included the Twins Round/Square Teapot Set and the bamboo chairs Jun-Zi and Qin-Jian.

The Red Dot Design Award is hailed as one of the top three design awards in the world.