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Deep focus: Behind the booming 'handcrafted economy,' ordinary creators turn AI side projects into viable ventures_我的网站
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Still frame from an AI-generated short video depicting the Chinese-style "heavenly court" created by creators Qiguang and Xueli Xianzong (screen names) Photo: Courtesy of QiguangWhat if one person and a computer could create something that wows the world?
Meet Qiguang, a 1991-born eyeglasses store owner whose AI-generated Chinese celestial realm racked up 5 million views overseas.
He is part of a rising movement in China: the "handcrafted economy," in which low-cost AI technologies and creativity are opening a new path to entrepreneurship.A white jade corridor stretches deep into a sea of clouds. The towering celestial palace rises above tiered upturned eaves, and red-crowned cranes glide between floating sanctuaries.
Shared online by viewers without subtitles or dialogue, this AI-generated short video racked up more than 5 million views across overseas social platforms in less than four days, attracting audiences worldwide.
Many overseas viewers assumed the atmospheric visual sequence came from a professional film studio or seasoned 3D animation team.
However, its creator, known online as Qiguang, leads a far more ordinary life. Born in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, in 1991, he now runs a physical optical shop. In his spare time between serving the customers, he taught himself AI image and video generation, painstakingly crafting the viral vision of a Chinese celestial realm.
Qiguang's overnight international fame is no isolated internet success story. It signals the spread of a new trend dubbed the "shoucuo" economy or handcraft economy. The term describes the process of bringing ideas to fruition by hand on a small scale with simple tools, relying mainly on individual skill or manual labor rather than dedicated industrial production lines.
On Chinese social media, the hashtag "Hand-Crafting Everything" has surpassed 100 million views. In app stores, solo developers are launching AI-powered tools that compete directly with products backed by tech giants. This movement, defined by low costs, high creative freedom and flexible, fragmented workflows, is reshaping the national imagination of entrepreneurship.
Two people, one vision of heavenFew viewers of Qiguang's viral celestial video realized that behind its ethereal beauty stood not a studio of dozens, but just two people, and hundreds of discarded AI attempts.
Qiguang told the Global Times that he had long been fascinated by the grand, ethereal landscapes of Chinese mythology - the celestial palaces and floating realms described in ancient texts. Then he discovered the work of another creator, Xueli Xianzong (screen name), whose AI-generated visuals captured a distinct Eastern aesthetics and minimalist blank-space composition.
"I realized AI could break down the barriers for ordinary people," Qiguang said. "The images I'd held in my mind for so long could finally become visible."
Xueli Xianzong had arrived at a similar realization earlier. For years, he had wanted to visualize the celestial palaces of Chinese fantasy fiction, but traditional 3D modeling and live-action filming were prohibitively expensive for an individual. AI generation tools changed that. He began spending his free time learning text-to-image and image-to-video technologies, carving out a niche in the relatively obscure genre of Chinese fantasy visuals.
The two eventually became creative partners, though their collaboration is unusually loose.
"Mostly we create independently, then share our finished work for critique and inspiration. We absorb aesthetic ideas from each other's visuals and incorporate them into our own," Xueli Xianzong said. "This is how most creators in this space collaborate right now."
But if their creative partnership was remarkably uncomplicated, their struggle with AI itself was anything but straightforward. The process behind a video like "Chinese Heavenly Court" is far more painstaking than audiences have imagined. Qiguang broke it down: First, conceptualize the overall atmosphere and frame each shot's camera movement. Second, use an AI image generation tool to generate high-quality static images for each frame, endlessly tweaking prompts to control architectural details, color palettes, lighting and composition. Third, feed the selected images into AI video-generation models to add dynamic lens effects, like horizontal camera panning, drifting clouds, flowing sleeves. Fourth, sort through the output, discard distorted or broken footage, edit the clips together and finally choose music to match the mood.
"AI frequently produces garbled architecture, deformed figures or unnatural motion," Qiguang said. "You envision something perfect in your mind, but after dozens of generations, you still haven't transformed your vision into reality."
After two years of self-learning, Qiguang regards his biggest breakthrough as escaping generic mass-produced ancient Chinese aesthetics. To him, the handcraft economy differs fundamentally from traditional entrepreneurship at its starting point.
"You can begin with just one person and a single computer, turning ideas directly into content or products. Heavy upfront investment disappears, yet every tedious task, every round of trial and error falls solely on the creator," Qiguang said.
"The AI-assisted handcraft model removes many steep technical barriers. If you possess taste and imagination, you can experiment in your spare time," he noted with a beam of proud.
Guo Yi, a professor at the School of Journalism, Chongqing University, told the Global Times the handcraft economy can be more accurately described as "intelligent creation economy" or "geek creation economy": Human intellect directs computing power, and creativity guides automated tools. In many ways, the movement mirrors the global maker economy.
"Yet generative AI brings transformative changes beyond merely lowering entry costs for creative industries. It is restructuring cost frameworks and production relationships across creative sectors," Guo said.
A fast-growing community 
A visitor inquires about AI-powered entrepreneurship solutions at an industry fair hosted by local authorities in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province on March 15, 2026. Photo: VCGIf Qiguang and Xueli Xianzong build dreamlike visuals in the creative clouds, 34-year-old Xu Ting "handcrafts" practical digital products grounded in real demand.
Xu still vividly remembers, in January 2025, publishing a simple post on the social media platform Xiaohongshu: "I want to build an AI app that chats with elderly users and helps them compile life memoirs. Anyone want to join?"
Under conventional internet industry logic, the idea sounded unrealistic. Developing an app once required large teams and millions of capital. But AI rewrote these rules.
Xu previously worked in the energy sector with no coding background. Using domestic large language models including DeepSeek, she assembled a working product prototype block by block. Without dedicated product managers or UI designers, she single-handedly completed market research and product design.
"In the past, many good creative concepts were abandoned simply because their costs were too high. Today, AI has driven down model token costs, making experimentation accessible to ordinary people and drawing growing numbers of newcomers into this space," Xu told the Global Times.
The day after her recruitment post went live, a flood of private messages confirmed genuine market demand.
Li Ning, a professor at Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management, pointed out that traditional entrepreneurship demands heavy investment in research, staffing, supply chains and market testing, discouraging many innovators.
"AI compresses these costs. Small teams working through independent handcrafted development can achieve outputs that once required hundreds of workers. This has also given more people the courage to start their own businesses." Li said.
Beyond gaps in costs, "handcrafted" teams follow different organizational and collaborative frameworks from established enterprises. Li told the Global Times that inside major companies, projects are pushed to deliver steady, foreseeable returns from conception through rollout. This type of environment creates barriers for disruptive ideas to flourish. Handcrafted teams, however, benefit from their lean size: They can shift direction quickly and iterate through constant trial and error.
"This has also given more people the courage to start their own businesses," he said.
Xueli Xianzong identified four core distinctions between the handcrafted economy and traditional entrepreneurship: low barriers to entry; creativity as the core while tools remain carriers; flexible collaboration without formal incorporation or fixed teams; and low trial-and-error costs, allowing creators to explore niche verticals without financial ruin.
According to Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of China's internet giant Alibaba, as of November 2025, nearly 23,000 AI applications have been built within the innovation zone on its ModelScope open-source platform, and roughly 95 percent of them were developed by individual creators.
Data from the "2026 China One Person Company (OPC) Industry White Paper" and sector reports show more than 16 million registered OPCs across China, as of April 2026.
Navigating headwinds for the creatorsYet if AI has flattened the technical playing field, what truly determines success? For those riding the wave of the handcrafted economy, the AI era offers a double-edged promise: unprecedented freedom to turn ideas into reality, paired with formidable obstacles that test resilience at every turn.
For Qiguang, it is the ability to perceive beauty: innate aesthetic judgment and imagination.
Xu argues that the most vital asset for new entrants is not capital, but sharp insight into unmet real-world needs. "AI excels at execution. Figuring out what to build is far harder than building it," Xu said.
The true competitive edge lies in translating technical capability into tangible user value. "Identify genuine underserved demands and turn technological capacity into value for users. Technology determines whether you can build a product. Understanding users, patience for iterative refinement and long-term trust determine how far a micro-venture can travel," she noted.
But even with the right instincts, the path from idea to market is anything but smooth. The explosive growth of handcrafted products brings steep challenges on that journey.
Xueli Xianzong noted AI enables cheap copying and imitation, while individual creators face exorbitant legal costs to defend their works. When infringement costs remain far lower than enforcement costs, creative enthusiasm inevitably fades.
Beyond intellectual property, creators must escape overreliance on fleeting online traffic. Qiguang observed platform algorithms tend to prioritize snappy, conflict-driven short content, while slow, culturally rich expression struggles to gain traction. He refuses to churn out formulaic commercial drama series chasing view counts, choosing instead to deepen grand storytelling.
"The handcrafted economy is no shortcut to quick wealth. It demands patience through periods of little reward," Qiguang said, noting that new participants need sufficient time and a willingness to endure repeated trial and error.
From an app development perspective, Xu highlighted another tension: balancing customized service and standardized workflows. If every project relies entirely on manual handcrafted labor, founders risk being trapped in high-intensity, low-profit self-employment. The sector needs mature workflows, delivery benchmarks and pricing frameworks. Tasks suitable for standardization can shift to AI, while human empathy and critical judgment stay central. Privacy and ethical safeguards also grow critical, especially for services handling personal memories and sensitive information.
Guo views inconsistent quality standards as typical growing pains, which market filtering mechanisms will gradually resolve. Delayed intellectual property frameworks and emerging governance challenges, however, require thoughtful ongoing policy attention, he said.
Authorities across China have begun rolling out supportive measures to address these obstacles. Over 20 cities have launched targeted policies for OPCs. The Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area offers streamlined business registration services for solo entrepreneurs, delivering business licenses in as little as 30 minutes. Qingdao in East China's Shandong Province rolled out a specialized platform for solo entrepreneurs, delivering end-to-end support for AI innovators from technical development to revenue generation.
At the same time, a network of OPC communities has taken shape. As of May 2026, 426 such communities operate across 28 provincial-level regions and 65 cities. These hubs provide physical workspace alongside networking events, resource matching and mentorship, connecting previously isolated solo creators into a connected ecosystem.
Still frame from an AI-generated short video depicting the Chinese-style "heavenly court" created by creators Qiguang and Xueli Xianzong (screen names) Photo: Courtesy of QiguangNow, Qiguang continues running his optical shop full-time, pursuing AI creation only as a side project with no immediate path to full-time work or large-scale earnings. Both Qiguan and Xueli Xianzong say they will consider full-time creative work only when industry conditions and monetization models mature further. Still, they view handcrafted creation merely as a starting point rather than a final destination, and remain optimistic that this grass-roots creative movement holds vast untapped potential ahead.
Huo Minhan contributed to this story 。 彻底疯狂了！最近一段时间，新加坡一路保持着强劲的势头，兑人民币的汇率是一路稳定上涨。
最新的汇率已经冲到了1：5.48左右！就这么不声不响地创下了历史新高！今年，新币兑人民币涨疯了！今年4月，新加坡金管局发布了季度货币政策声明，保持新元名义有效汇率可波动范围的宽度和中间轴不变。这是它一连四次政策会议，选择按兵不动维持新元的升值步伐。自此，新币兑人民币汇率就一路狂飙。更是在这两天一路疯涨到1:5.47+。
B | 这个汇率，是自2008年以来，新币兑人民币汇率创下的新高！据统计，今年下半年以来，新币兑人民币涨了惊人的4%以上！不仅是兑人民币的汇率疯涨，在这段时间里，新币兑美元的汇率也“直冲天际”。上周的的8月15日，新元兑1美元曾触及1.3152新元兑1美元的水平。
C | 到了8月23日，又再一次达到1.30新元兑1美元的水平。要知道，新币兑美元汇率上一次达到这个水平，还要追溯到2014年11月......新币兑人民币汇率未来还会继续涨？除了新加坡金管局的强硬货币政策外，另外一个导致这种现象的原因是，据《路透社》报道，美联储主席近期也表态“政策调整的时候到了”，被认为是明示了下个月将降息的证据。
D | 在美国向全球输出了一种过剩的美元的控制力，且美国长期存在着巨额的贸易逆差的情况下，此次降息被普遍认为会进一步推高新币的汇率增值。也就是说，如果人民币没有跟上新元升值的步伐的话，这两种货币的汇率比值可能会进一步拉大。图源：华尔街日报对于新币兑人民币后期走势，新加坡媒体《联合早报》也采访了几位分析师，他们均认为新元兑人民币将持续维持高位。其中一人表示，虽然新元兑人民币已在高位，但鉴于现在的情况，一段时间内很难再看到以往大家所熟悉的1比5的汇率了。另有一名分析师则预测，汇率在六个月内有望上涨至1新币兑5.5人民币，一年内则甚至可能达1新元兑5.6人民币！不过，也有业内人士认为，如果美联储以激进方式降息导致美元大幅缩水，金管局可能也会让新元贬值，以保持新元的整体竞争力。在这种情况下，新元将出现较大不动，兑人民币的汇率可能在5.31至5.45之间，一旦跌破5.31的支撑位，汇率也许会滑落到1新元兑5.18人民币。汇率涨了，有人喜有人忧 新加坡 新币兑人民币的汇率不断上涨，直接反映在了汇款市场上。
E | 前不久，全球电子支付巨头Visa发布了一份汇款调查，显示51%的本地受访者在去年向海外汇款超过1500新币。其中，汇款目的地第一位就是中国（18%），总金额一年有20亿美元（约27亿新币）之多！1）汇率涨了，在新加坡的打工人笑了汇率高，用新币换人民币的人越来越多，全岛似乎都出现了兑换热潮，甚至不少人还大排长龙只为了能赶上钱币兑换商还有货（人民币）的时候，能够多换一点。来源：早报《联合早报》报道，莱佛士坊地铁站外的雅吉拱廊（The Arcade）里，已经至少四家钱币兑换商挂上人民币缺货的标注。其中一名钱币兑换商还说，最近的顾客大多都是几千新币的换钱。
F | 据他了解，这两天好几家缺货，他们也只有一点存货，所以暂时标注没货。另有业者透露，自己最近生意好了20%之多，单单是一天，就卖出了超40万人民币。图源：新明日报有“后知后觉”的网友发现最近汇率真的涨疯了，于是连忙挑了个星期六去银行开户。没想到，自己一大早去也“没赶上早集”，前面还有9个人比他更早到...让她有些不可思议。图源：小红书网友@桃胶冻虽然牛车水汇款中心因为之前的冻结风波而有些遇冷，但前不久似乎又恢复了一些人气。开始陆陆续续有不少人继续选择走汇款中心的非第三方汇款方式，把钱寄回家。图源：小红书网友@Mr.J在新加坡（吃货读博中）也有的人感慨到，汇率一直在涨，现在的工作比以往好，但好像最后算下来，其实儿子留在国内工作也比来新加坡差多少，一时间有些不知道该说什么......2）在新加坡的留学生和游客，哭晕了....在新加坡抱着赚钱寄回国养家的人来说，面对不断飙涨的汇率可以说是喜笑颜开了。
G | 但是，在新加坡读书的学生，最近就不是那么的愉快了......这不，有人看了眼最近汇率简直要晕过去了！后悔自己没早点交学费，没过去几天学费换算成人民币，又多了一大笔钱。
H | 图源：小红书网友@Simon_留学生们一致哀叹，纷纷吐槽：这日子简直没法过了！图片来自小红书分享被汇率“背刺”的还有近期来新加坡旅游的游客们，在这里的任何一笔开销，到最后都似乎会化成俩大字：心痛。有人发文说，后悔自己没有尽早多换点钱，临上飞机了才被现实狠狠地教育了一遍。
I | 图源：小红书网友@雪雪今天学习了嘛有的人因为没有在汇率低的时候出手（2021年汇率大概在4.7-4.8左右），结果吞下了损失几万元的苦果，只能“打碎了牙往肚子里咽”！图源：小红书网友@72摄氏度在新加坡的人们，这段时间算是彻底感受了一遭“人的悲欢并不相通”。但现在纠结的问题又来了：是趁着现在汇率高的时候早点换钱呢？还是再等等看它有没有继续涨（跌）的可能呢？沉没成本已经不低了，感觉做哪个决定搞不好都会后悔，真就让人纠结不已啊~椰友们，你们怎么看呢？一个月内，40万中国人来了！ 新加坡 虽然新币升值导致来新加坡的旅游成本更高了，然而，这并没有阻挡暑假期间，中国游客的“新加坡旅游热”。日前，新加坡旅游局在官网上发布了7月的入境旅客数据，整个月160万人次的游客中，中国游客占据了四分之一以上！一共有41万2940人次。图源：早报这个数字，比去年同期高出了8成以上。
J | 而今年前7个月，入境的中国旅客人次已达到186万人次，较去年同比增加将近一倍。图源：早报 新加坡知名地标鱼尾狮、通往滨海艺术的桥上挤满了人，走都走不动路了：图片来自网络新加坡某酒店大堂内，也塞满了游客大包小包的行李：图源：小红书网友@龄之之之游客拖家带口在新加坡国立大学校园内游览，给在校师生的生活造成了不小麻烦。中国驻新加坡大使馆，也于不久前发布了一则文告，呼吁来新旅游的中国游客，提早准备一些文件，以防通关时间遇到阻碍。大家来新加坡之前记得参考下哦~原文如下：。
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Published on:19:23:11
