Three hundred years ago, a group of merchants from North China's Shanxi province forged a tea road that spanned over 10,000 kilometers across the vast Eurasian continent. As the road brought Chinese tea to the world, it also brought back the secrets of foreign glass-making techniques.

Nowadays, the glassware craft has taken root in Qixian, Shanxi province, where it continues to flourish with products exported to more than 80 countries and regions.

Bakhrieva Takhmina, an international student from Central Asia, has developed an interest in glassware techniques. She visited a glass-blowing workshop and experienced the crafting process firsthand under the guidance of Luo Qinqin, a deputy to the Shanxi Provincial People's Congress who knows the craft inside out. Takhmina was fascinated by the glass salad bowls that featured Chinese ink paintings, showing an innovative fusion of Chinese and Western styles.