Li Jian observes his subject through the microscope in his office at the Chengdu Institute of Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, on April 13, 2021. "It is my duty to depict these cute animals from the best angles, with the most accurate details, and in the closest colors for the readers," said Li Jian, a 60-year-old senior experimentalist of the Chengdu Institute of Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Li has been drawing for scientific purposes since he joined the institute in 1978, during which he acquired an eagle's sight for minute details on plants and animals he was expected to depict. "My work, however, is by no means artistic creation, and being scientific and meticulous is always an overriding principle," Li said, adding, "More often than not, I resort to the microscope to be precise with all the tiny details." Li usually has to spend 10 days on a drawing of the size of a human palm, and five days more if the subject is a scale-covered snake. Li is about to hit his retirement in May this year. Having accomplished nearly 1,000 drawings through his 43 years of service, Li managed to vividly bring over 730 kinds of cute yet wild plants and animals before the eyes of his readers. (Xinhua/Liu Kun)
