Engineer finds art in the air

Xu Dengyong, 37, first noticed balloon art on an online variety show in 2013. One of the guests appeared in an outfit made entirely of woven balloons. At the time, Xu was working as an engineer at an electronics factory in Guangdong province, living a stable life.

He never imagined that balloons — which he then saw as little more than "children's toys" — would one day become the foundation of a business earning him more than 1 million yuan ($147,000) a year.

Originally from Nanzhang county, Hubei province, Xu had spent years in manufacturing before changing careers. His factory experience left him with two lasting assets: the ability to endure hardship and a disciplined approach to solving problems — through standardized processes, attention to detail, cost control and safety calculations. These habits would later prove invaluable in the balloon industry.

In 2013, Xu invested his savings of 30,000 yuan to attend a monthlong balloon modeling course in Henan province. After returning home, he opened a balloon decoration shop.

The early days were tough. He handed out flyers on the street and visited wedding planning companies one by one, taking whatever work he could find.

A turning point came in 2015 when he began targeting shopping malls and large commercial events. But potential clients all asked the same question: How long would the balloons last?

Xu had no good answer.

At the time, balloon decoration techniques were still relatively undeveloped. Indoor installations typically lasted no more than a week. For shopping malls investing in displays built from tens of thousands of balloons, that simply wasn't good enough.