Bun-haired and dotted with pearls, or with phoenix coronets dressed in embroidered robes, silk dolls in the visage of traditional Chinese beauties and nobility made in East China's Ningbo city are vivid and true to life.

Silk dolls cannot be made through mass production. It is time-consuming, requiring good aesthetic judgment, which has hindered the passing on of the craft. Ningbo's silk doll craftsmanship is becoming endangered and more local youngsters are expected to inherit this ancient craftsmanship.

 Juanren, or silk dolls, first appearing in the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), have been popular for centuries in China. [Photo/nbnews.cnnb.com.cn]

Silk dolls are made of thin silk, gauze and embroidery. They depict both men and women from folktales, operas and traditional dramas. [Photo/nbnews.cnnb.com.cn]