"The process of making huabobo includes steps such as concocting, fermenting and kneading dough, as well as pinching, carving, steaming and coloring it," says Jia Yuping, a provincial inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage.

"Knives, scissors and pens are usually involved in the creation," Jia adds.

Zang first learned, from an experienced huabobo master, the basic skills and then practiced over and again on her own.

"It was frustrating at the beginning, when the buns were often cracked after being steamed," Zang says.

"How to concoct the dough and take care of its fermentation is the key, and it needs trial and error to get the best results," she adds.

She also extracts natural fruit and vegetable juice, such as that of spinach, pumpkin and butterfly peas, to color the flour.

"Then, there is milk, eggs and a bit of sugar, nothing else," she says.

It didn't take long before Zang got the whole process down to a fine art, literally.

With a little more than 10,000 yuan ($1,437) of her own savings, Zang opened her first small huabobo shop in Yantai.

Seeing her commitment, her family no longer stood in her way, and even came to help.

The cute flour figures soon appealed to an increasing number of customers, especially of her generation.