Chinese Teacher Spent 60 Years Folding 10,000 Paper Planes

Some people spent their entire lives collecting great cars which eventually end up as classic collections for others to cherish. Some learn a new language, some elders go for the bucket list, yet others create unique things. For this teacher, the ancient Chinese tradition of paper folding was his biggest passion and now, after 60 years of practicing it, he decided to show the world his creation.

According to local reports, all the mini-size airplanes he made are out of wastepaper. Among the over 10,000 aircraft, Xu has also created vivid human characters and the 12 animal signs with his crafty hands.

Few people know that paper folding actually has Chinese origins.

Even though the work of Akir Yoshizawa widely popularized the Japanese name “origami,” in China and other Chinese speaking places, the art is referred by the name “zhezhi.” Traditional Chinese paper folding concentrates mainly on objects like boats or hats rather than animals and flowers of Japanese origami.

One argument of this is the fact the paper was first invented bt Cai Lun in the Eastern Han Dynasty in China. In the 6th century, Buddhist monks carried paper to Japan. Scientists have found that the earliest document showing paper folding is a picture of a small paper boat in an edition of Tractatus de sphaera mundi (a medieval introduction to the basic elements of astronomy written by Johannes de Sacrobosco, also known as John of Holywood) from 1490.