The disabled artist, Mazhigang, who had polio as a child, took five years to make it. Making each of the 6,666 ants involved at least 52 separate procedures. They are divided into soldier ants, workers and scouts. They even have grain storage units inside the tree and are depicted busy at work carrying dead simulated insects and so on. After Mazhigang finished junior high school he taught himself at night how to sculpture miniatures in purple sand, which is a special product of his native Yixing. In the daytime, and for about 20 years, he eked out a living by carrying passengers on a tricycle. The record books don’t explain how he managed the tricycle bit on crutches, but who are we to quibble? When you multiply Mazhigang’s determination by a big number, it is arguably a better proxy for what it is possible for people in China to produce than power consumption.