A painting by Han Meilin. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Prolific Chinese artist Han Meilin works and lives with a motto: "If the iron is not sharpened, it becomes rusty; if the water doesn't flow, a river dries up; and if one no longer uses his brain, he will be useless."

He says he draws for more than 10 hours a day, "as laborious as that an aged cattle". He says his head is filled with so many ideas that he can produce 60 designs in 20 minutes.

The Beijing-based artist has announced a busy schedule to celebrate his 80th birthday this year: He will stage a grand exhibition first in Venice, then Paris and finally Beijing.