Turning metal waste into robot-like artwork

Workers make the metal models in Li's workshop in Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan province, June 16, 2015. [Photo/IC]

Li Yujie, a man in Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan province, transforms useless metal into works of art representing cartoon or movie figures or characters he creates.

He uses recycled metal components to make the metal robot-like figures, ranging from the Bumblebee in Transformers to models he desgined himself.

These huge metal models can be for business marketing or directly sold to companies that need them. The return can be huge: once he earned about 20,000 yuan ($3,222) by leasing the Bumblebee figure.

Li rented a yard in a Zhengzhou suburb and employed several workers to help him turn the metal images in his mind into real objects.

To date, Li has recycled about 50,000 components and copied or designed more than 50 metal artworks in Zhenghzhou.