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“Thank you for spending time in everything in daily life. mainland at a cheaper price, Tao
making many beautiful crafts for us. It makes her crafts in her free time.
is warm and delightful for my univer- “I hope my crafts can be a little
sity life!” a recipient wrote in a mes- delight when students are busy with “The cost is not high. It costs
sage for Tao. their study. They can feel my care and around RMB ¥5 (US $0.7) for 100
good wishes for them,” she adds. pipe cleaners. My time and effort
Crafting Magic makes them more valuable,” Tao says.
Her love for crafting began a year
Tao believes crafts made with sim- ago when she was a university student Behind Twistman
ple materials can bring happiness to in Nanjing. The first craft she cre-
others. ated was a bunny with a white ribbon The creation of Twistman all began
around its neck. with a group project in Tao’s new me-
“With pipe cleaners, stickers, glue, dia analytics course.
and creativity, you can make your own Tao continues her craft-making
masterpiece,” Tao says, noting that the endeavors after moving to Hong Kong “We were required to manage a
body of the Twistman is made from a for her studies. social media account. I got inspired
toilet paper roll. She finds inspiration With materials shipped from the by my hobby of making pipe cleaner
crafts and wanted to combine it with
my project,” Tao says.

On top of the homework’s require-
ments, Tao hopes her work can bring
joy to people who feel stressed.

“Numerous suicide cases were re-
ported last year. Many of them are
in my age. I want to do something to
help others reduce stress and pressure,
even though I cannot reach them in
person,” she says.

Similar to Hong Kong, mental
health issues are also common among
students at Nanjing University, where
she had her first degree in the Korean
language.

“Frustration is also common
amongst mainland university stu-
dents. Students need to work hard for
their GPA and are under a lot of pres-
sure from parents,” Tao says.

“I was shocked when one of my
Korean friends at Nanjing University
jumped into his death due to his fam-
ily issues,” she recalls.

Tao shares that she also experi-
Handmade crafts were distributed around the campus by
Lenka Tao Huayi. (Photo courtesy of Lenka Tao Huayi) enced a brief period of depression, but