Around 2006, after my show "Magnificent Gold," I created an exquisite dress that took 50,000 hours to make. Many people didn't understand it, but some actually were stunned by my imagination. I recall that I was offered five million renminbi for it. That was a lot of money in China back then [2005]. I thought a lot about it, but I eventually told the person that I wasn't willing to let it go. Then I asked myself, "If I became very wealthy, what would I want to do? What is my ultimate dream?" The answer was, "I would still make clothing." And since I was already doing that, I didn't want to sell myself short.
I didn't sell because I was already on the path of realizing my dream. Money is just a tool, a means to an end. I think in China, many mistake the means to an end for the end itself. I have always been happy because I'm doing what I love. I'm not willing to sell any of the designs displayed in the exhibition, because they aren't tools for me to make money. Because of this, I have the liberty to design my way. I design with my sincere passion to create love. And all of the details you can see in my design represent love.
![Around 2006, after my show "Magnificent Gold," I created an exquisite dress that took 50,000 hours to make. Many people didn't understand it, but some actually were stunned by my imagination. I recall that I was offered five million renminbi for it. That was a lot of money in China back then [2005]. I thought a lot about it, but I eventually told the person that I wasn't willing to let it go. Then I asked myself, "If I became very wealthy, what would I want to do? What is my ultimate dream?" The answer was, "I would still make clothing." And since I was already doing that, I didn't want to sell myself short.
I didn't sell because I was already on the path of realizing my dream. Money is just a tool, a means to an end. I think in China, many mistake the means to an end for the end itself. I have always been happy because I'm doing what I love. I'm not willing to sell any of the designs displayed in the exhibition, because they aren't tools for me to make money. Because of this, I have the liberty to design my way. I design with my sincere passion to create love. And all of the details you can see in my design represent love.](https://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/thumbor/pQRk8aW3Rk8ZJTApE9br6uQL0Q8/fit-in/1024x1024/filters:format_auto-!!-:strip_icc-!!-/2022/08/17/925/n/1922564/692be67562fd59d0cbcbc4.97048190_5005-guopei-/i/Around-2006-after-my-show-Magnificent-Gold-I-created-exquisite.jpg "Around 2006, after my show \"Magnificent Gold,\" I created an exquisite dress that took 50,000 hours to make. Many people didn't understand it, but some actually were stunned by my imagination. I recall that I was offered five million renminbi for it. That was a lot of money in China back then [2005]. I thought a lot about it, but I eventually told the person that I wasn't willing to let it go. Then I asked myself, \"If I became very wealthy, what would I want to do? What is my ultimate dream?\" The answer was, \"I would still make clothing.\" And since I was already doing that, I didn't want to sell myself short.
I didn't sell because I was already on the path of realizing my dream. Money is just a tool, a means to an end. I think in China, many mistake the means to an end for the end itself. I have always been happy because I'm doing what I love. I'm not willing to sell any of the designs displayed in the exhibition, because they aren't tools for me to make money. Because of this, I have the liberty to design my way. I design with my sincere passion to create love. And all of the details you can see in my design represent love.")
