She really loves those tiger feet

Part of Hu's collection of more than 10,000 pairs of tiger-head shoes at her home.

She spends most of her annual income of about 200,000 yuan ($29,000) on traveling and making purchases.

A pair of shoes can cost anything from 12 to 150 yuan, but they are not always easy to buy.

Hu remembers attempting to purchase some tiger-head shoes from a woman in her 70s, who made them for her grandson.

"I visited her three times, but she refused to sell the shoes to me," she said.

"They were handmade and unique."

On the fourth visit, Hu brought gifts for the family. Touched by her persistence, the woman gave her two pairs.

Four bookshelves and two basement rooms in Hu's home are now piled high with tiger-head shoes, mostly colored red and yellow.

Traditionally, the shoes are made by rural women during farming's offseason. One woman can make as many as 10 pairs a year.

As China develops, changing tastes mean that many younger parents no longer buy tiger-head shoes for their children. Even Hu's granddaughter did not wear them when she was a toddler.

"There are less in demand. As a result, fewer people still want to make them," she said.

The most skilled shoemakers are in their 80s or 90s, and even the youngest are older than 60. "They are dying out," Hu said, with a sigh.

Ten years ago, she met a centenarian at a temple fair. Her nephew was selling the shoes she made, with unusual spider and lizard patterns.

"I liked her shoes so much that I bought six pairs," Hu recalled. "The next year I visited her, only to be told that she had passed away."

As an inheritor of cultural heritage, Hu feels the pain. Her 32-year-old daughter is learning paper-cutting, and her five-year-old granddaughter, too. But Hu cannot make tiger-head shoes.

She is worried that the craft may perish along with its inheritors. In the last two years, she has not found a single pair of new shoes.

"Apart from those I am going to give to museums, I will keep some at home, and tell children the stories behind the shoes," she said.