P.Zhan Pipes

P.Zhan Pipes is the workshop that Chinese pipe maker Ping Zhan runs under his own name. Working in the northeastern Chinese port city of Dalian, Zhan began carving pipes in 2011, and his work quickly drew the interest of collectors in Europe and North America.

He is considered one of the first independent makers to grow up in China and also gain regular recognition abroad. His name also appears in its Chinese usage, with the surname first, as "Zhan Ping"; in Western sources "Ping Zhan" has become standard.

From Engineering to Carving

According to records, Zhan was born in 1979. After studying science and technology at university, he worked in software engineering for more than a decade. In the second half of this period he turned to painting and three-dimensional design; his interest in pipes also took shape in the same years, alongside the idea that a pipe could be approached as a small-scale sculpture.

He did not learn carving at a master's side; he developed his techniques on his own, through experimentation. This is a frequently repeated observation about him, marking him as coming by a different path than European makers who carry on the workshop-apprenticeship tradition.