Culture cast through glass

Her works often contain bubbles, which some critics have questioned. But Yang sees bubbles not as flaws, but as the very language of glass' life.

"Bubbles are life's breath," she says. "The Diamond Sutra says that all conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows. Aren't those bubbles exactly that?"

This very quality, she believes, makes glass the most fitting medium for expressing Eastern philosophy.

"Liuli is not a tech product where if it's good quality, cheap and functional, the job is done. Culture doesn't work that way. Culture requires others to understand it, to like it, and to respect it," she says.