A woman in Changxing County, Zhejiang province starts each morning by creating a carefully curated breakfast for her daughter, with each meal given the theme of an ancient Chinese poems.
In the dishes, cucumbers are turned into willow branches, and dumplings resemble ducks. In addition, the woman, named Zhang Ying, makes miniature landscape paintings out of dried fruits and grains. The breakfasts are not only beautiful, but also tasty and nutritious.
Zhang said she was inspired by a mother who made more than 200 different "cartoon breakfasts" for her child. As a middle school teacher, Zhang decided to use breakfast as a learning opportunity, giving her daughter a better understanding of classic Chinese poetry.
Zhang said each breakfast usually takes her no more than half an hour to cook, but she spends a lot of time brainstorming the ideas. Now Zhang is planning to make a series of breakfasts to teach her daughter about the approaching National Day, which falls on Saturday, Oct. 1.
