Sculpture a symbol of courage in virus fight

Pierre Alivon, a French photographer and sculptor, took thousands of photos of Beijing's bleak street scenes in February when the country was battling the viral outbreak at full tilt. Meanwhile, he has tried to reflect the devotion and fearless spirit he perceived in his random subjects in a sculpture.

"I take photographs daily. And all the emotions and qualities that I captured with my camera those days, I have projected in this sculpture," Alivon told China Daily website.

The bronze sculpture he created in early April is Dragon, featuring a masked soldier with a dragon hovering above his head.

"To fight the epidemic, everyone has become a soldier," said Alivon, a Parisian who has been living in Beijing since September 2015, a month after he came to China.

It's after hearing "We're at war", a short but powerful message delivered by both Chinese and French leaders, that he was inspired to create the piece, the sculptor said.

"The message resonated with me as I saw nurses rushing to save lives and delivery men and sanitation workers braving bad weather to keep the city on track while the rest were voluntarily staying home to avoid potential infections," he added.