'This artwork was created between September 2003 and early 2004. To create this work, I picked some trees that had been chopped down during the urban development. Then I took the trunks as models and reproduced them using ceramic as materials.

In September 2003, I was in Jingdezhen of Jiangxi Province, working on my other art works. It happened that the city was under massive urban construction to celebrate its one-thousand birthday. Bulldozers and excavators were all over the place. Many trees that were already several decades old were cut down and this could be seen in every corner of the city. Jingdezhen, the famous historical and cultural city with a history of over 2,000 years, became a huge construction site. Furious winds blew the dusts up and blurred the sky. The beautiful city that I have been so familiar with, where I have lived, worked and spent my college time suddenly became so strange and suffocating. Everyday, when I was on my way to the factory, the cut-down trees that laid in the streets formed a picture that was so desolate that it haunted me until now. Before, I had been proud to live in a country with a long history, a country that respected and cherished its own tradition. But with the economic development and the accelerating transformation towards the so-called “international metropolis”, people have become apathetic and neglectful of traditional culture and living environment, leaving them with a sense of emptiness. The constant pursuit of changes results in a nation without a sense of roots and minimal self-confidence. Now, when you walk in any big city in China, you will have a “rich” sense of uniformity, as the appearance and spirit of the cities are getting more and more homogeneous. At the same time, people are getting apathetic and “cold” towards each other, which is what I was thinking when I created this work.'
(Description given by the artist to Asia Art Archive in 2013)