"Why does your wooden rabbit have no face?" Recently, a young carpenter from Qingdao has learned the possibilities and the perils of launching an online business.

Ni Zhiyuan, a 27-year-old wedding planner and part-time woodcarver, became a local sensation recently in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province after he set up a page on a crowdfunding platform selling his hand-carved rabbit ornaments as special Valentine's Day gifts.

Ni's "Walking Rabbits" went viral and he received nearly 200 orders in just a few days. But then, Ni realized he'd created a huge problem for himself that he had just a few days to carve hundreds of bunnies in time for Feb 14.

He stayed up all night carving to complete his orders, but some of his work was not up to scratch. The experience taught him that his rabbits cannot be mass produced, he said.

Ni was born into a family of carpenters. During Ni's childhood, his father made many wooden knives and swords for him as toys. Later, carpentry became a release for him following the failure of his wedding photography business.

Since he took up the hobby in March 2016, Ni has created more than 1,000 of his signature bunnies.

Qingdao carpenter Ni Zhiyuan poses with his hand-carved wooden rabbits. [Photo/qingdaonews.com]

Ni Zhiyuan's wooden rabbits, which are inspired by the Japanese cartoon movie The Diary of Tortov Roddle. [Photo/qingdaonews.com]