Model ships keep history alive

Authenticity

However, the biggest challenge is not making a ship, but researching information about it before starting a project.

"We have to respect history and try to recreate the ancient ships according to the historical records rather than by imagination," said Wu, adding that the lack of original drawings of many ancient Chinese vessels made the process even harder.

In one case, Wu spent two and a half years making a treasure ship, a large wooden vessel in the fleet of Admiral Zheng He, who led seven expeditionary voyages during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

"There are no clear records left about its layout and facilities, and I had to find clues from many places and piece them together like completing a jigsaw puzzle," Wu said.

After searching in many public libraries, he even asked a friend in Japan to help him find an art collection that could shed light on the ship's original look.

His final work, a miniature 4 meters high, 3.2 meters long and 1.2 meters wide, retains as much detail as the original, with a watchtower, anchors, guard bars, lamps and dozens of cannons.

The ship was later collected by a museum in Wuhan, Hubei province, for 280,000 yuan ($40,200).