A taste of history

In the home of 36-year-old Zou Minglei in Wuhan, Hubei province, you'll find some of China's most cherished museum artifacts — not originals, but remarkably lifelike reproductions made of cake and chocolate.

Zou, a talented dessert artist, gained widespread attention earlier this year on the Chinese short video platform Douyin. Her inventive fusion of culinary art and cultural preservation has captivated young Chinese internet users, earning her more than 242,000 likes.

Zou's interest in artifacts took root during her university years when she studied animation and frequently visited museums for artistic inspiration.

"The relics in museums — their patterns, shapes, colors, and craftsmanship — spark endless ideas," she said.

Her journey into transforming these historical treasures into edible art began in 2018. That year, she entered the Cake International competition in the UK and won a silver medal for her fondant cake interpretation of the 2,400-year-old Chime Bells of Marquis Yi of Zeng, a famous set of bronze bells from the Warring States Period (475-221 BC).

At the end of 2024, she set a personal challenge to craft 100 cultural relics in dessert form.

So far, she has completed 17.