The Jilue Huanggong Ancestral Temple, a Qing Dynasty building in the ancient city, still contains outstanding examples of Chaozhou wood carvings, says Chen Xianwu.
Chen Jia says the decorative baskets, which are carved out of a single block of wood, and traditionally covered in carvings of lobsters and crabs, are quite demanding to make, as the carver has to picture the finished piece before deciding where to start carving.