Jewelry designer transforms Wuhan's cityscape into stunning creations

As China fights to keep the coronavirus at bay, Fang Longhuizi, a 27-year-old jewelry designer from China University of Geosciences (CUG) in Wuhan, has created a line of jewelry to celebrate the beauty and resilience of Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Fang Longhuizi, a teacher in the jewelry department at China University of Geosciences. /WeChat

A teacher in the jewelry department at CUG, Fang stunned netizens on Chinese social media after she released a collection of necklace drawings depicting Wuhan's symbols and landmarks on China's twitter-like platform Weibo in February.

An amalgamation of jewelry, tradition, culture and history, Fang's delicate designs have highlighted her love of the city where she had studied and lived for eight years.

Fang's design integrates Wuhan University's distinctive green tiles and famous pink cherry blossoms. /Weibo

Considering Wuhan as her second home, Fang chose to stay in Wuhan rather than return to her hometown Yangzhou in east China's Jiangsu Province for Spring Festival when the city imposed a lockdown on January 23.

As news of the outbreak in Wuhan spread, Chinese netizens took to social media to vent their anger and frustration toward Wuhan, its epicenter.

Fang shared her pieces and design dairies on social media. /Weibo

"Wuhan is a heroic city and its people heroic people. They should not be blamed and insulted," Fang said.

The designer decided to show Wuhan's other faces by painting, proving it's not "a city of virus."

However, it's not easy to integrate multiple elements into one piece of work. It takes Fang several days to pick one idea to go with and several sketches before working out a thematic and aesthetic necklace.

A preliminary sketch of Fang's necklaces. /Weibo

Her pieces showcase Wuhan's tranquil waters, abundant cherry blossoms, historic Yellow Crane Tower, iconic Yangtze River Bridge and traditional dish of hot, dry noodles.

Made in various shades of pink, gold and turquoise, every piece captures the essence of Wuhan and is imprinted with Fang's exclusive impression of the city.

Two of Fang's necklaces depicting Wuhan's rivers (L) and late autumn scenery of Wuhan's East Lake. /Weibo

Featuring symbols, such as birds, dawn, redwood and water reflection, a golden necklace illustrates the elegance of Wuhan's East Lake Scenic Area in late autumn.

With local snacks, including hot, dry noodles, bean pies, fried doughnuts and seafood, another collection demonstrates Hubei's breakfast culture "guo zao."

A collection of Fang's works depicting Hubei's breakfast culture "guo zao." /Weibo

Jewelry is a medium that carries a lot of emotions. Fang names her collection "Here is Wuhan" and hopes her deigns could let more people feel the city's vitality and profound cultural identity.

"Wuhan is a beautiful and free city. I wish it can always shine bright like a diamond,” the designer said.