Auguste Rodin, the famous French sculptor of the late 19th century once said, "Beauty is everywhere…but it is that our eyes fail to perceive it," and he could not have been more right, especially in the case of a college teacher in the city of Changchun, Jilin province, who has certainly found the beauty and value of trash -- more than 100 years later.

Gu says his work represents change and progress in an industrial era.

The 33-year old Gu Guanglei, who teaches art at a college in the city, is enthusiastic about collecting pieces of rusted metal, old wine bottles, or anything that people throw away and has found a way to make art out of them. Gu likes frequent waste recycling sites to look for these "treasures" to take back to his studio. After his teaching day is over, he hides himself away in the studio and puts a lot of thought into each item and begins the "process" of working on them with his equipment.

Gu Guanglei likes wine bottles for his creative work. [Photo by Zhangyao/chinanews.com]

And Gu's work certainly has a strong visual impact and its own personality. He says he wants to show the results of the industrial age through his work and get people to recall the good old days And notes, "The city I live in offers me inspiration for my work because it's an old industrial base with its own historical past -- and the materials I need."

Gu likes to weld parts together to create new shapes of all kinds.

He's produced more than 200 works over the past 10 years, and says he "breathes new life" into these abandoned items and hopes one day to hold an exhibition to put his work on display and encourage people to recycle as he turns waste into treasure.

Gu's friends like to come over and talk on his latest work in his studio.