In a town in Central China's Hubei province, 28-year-old Ren Yang makes handcrafted wooden plaques and sells them to customers in the United States, Singapore, Malaysia and other countries.

Surrounded by stacks of timber waiting to be repurposed, Ren transforms raw pine, paulownia and beech into bespoke wooden plaques for restaurants, boutique homestays and campgrounds.

After graduating in 2017 and venturing into the fiercely competitive online apparel industry, Ren realized he needed to find a niche. His solution: custom wooden plaques. He founded a company in Yuan'an county in 2022.