At 14, she left her hometown in Ningde, Fujian province, and went to study as an apprentice under Ye Jianfei, a friend of her grandfather. Ye was an established relic restorer at a research institute in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. There she learned the skills of the trade, delicately cleaning and sorting out unearthed relics and piecing them together.

Her long school holidays allowed her the time at the institute to master the required craftsmanship. She admits that she "felt a sense of responsibility to pass down cultural treasures".

After five years at the institute, Tang had grasped the necessary skills and she became qualified enough to restore valuable items that would go under the hammer at auctions.

"I was then determined to create artworks in my own way," she says.