Zhang Chongsheng, a master of straw art, uses common wheat straws to create works of art in Jinan, East China's Shandong province. [Photo/IC]

Wheat is a staple food in North China, and wheat straw is generally used as a natural fertilizer or to feed livestock. But 67-year-old Zhang Chongsheng turns wheat straw into works of art in Jinan, East China's Shandong province.

Zhang has created art from straw for more than 40 years. Due to his artistic achievements, Zhang was certified as a "folk master of arts and crafts" and straw art was listed as intangible cultural heritage in Jinan.