A woman "plays" a violin made by Qin.[Photo by Liu Jiaoqing/China Daily]

There are about 3 to 4 million people in China who dabble in origami and modern communications and the internet means that they can discuss their hobby and work with even the most skilled practitioner.

It's free to talk to anyone on the internet even those masters who have achieved international fame," Qin said.

Under a nom de guerre of Soma Cruz, Qin posts pictures of his work on the internet, sharing his love of origami with thousands of e-pals.

In 2006 Qin struck up communication over the internet with Eric Joisel, a French sculptor and paper-folding artist, considered among the finest origami masters in the world."It's quite amusing for the two of us to exchange ideas in poor English, so most of the time he just showed me how he went about his work on video", said Qin.

Joisel's friendship and encouragement inspired Qin.

Qin took a course in animal science and veterinary medicine at a secondary vocational school in Nanning, capital city of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in 2007, to better understand the "structure of animals".

Born to a tailor's family, Qin showed his talent in primary school.

I had no interest in study, he said, and would fold paper at every opportunity, he said.

He devoted himself to origami after leaving vocational school and quickly produced some amazing work.