Best Photos of the Day

Works in the studio of Li Yizhong, one of China’s most popular miniaturists, in Jinan on July 13, 2023. Making loving replicas of homes that were demolished or otherwise swept away in China's rapid modernization, some of the country’s miniaturists have become social media celebrities. (Qilai Shen/The New York Times).

A miniature of a home, made for clients who wanted a keepsake of the site that was torn down for new development, in the workshop of Sheng Peng in Baoding, China, on Aug. 1, 2023. Model makers in China are meeting a rising demand for miniature replicas of homes that have been demolished or otherwise swept away in the country’s rapid modernization. (Qilai Shen/The New York Times).

Li Yizhong, one of China’s most popular miniaturists, with one of his works at his studio in Jinan on July 13, 2023. Making loving replicas of homes that were demolished or otherwise swept away in China’s rapid modernization, some of the country’s miniaturists have become social media celebrities. (Qilai Shen/The New York Times).

A miniature of a home, made for clients who wanted a keepsake of the site that was torn down for new development, in the workshop of Sheng Peng in Baoding, China, on Aug. 1, 2023. Model makers in China are meeting a rising demand for miniature replicas of homes that have been demolished or otherwise swept away in the country’s rapid modernization. (Qilai Shen/The New York Times).

A classroom setting, complete with tiny books and pencils on the desks, made by Li Yizhong, one of China’s most popular miniaturists, at his studio in Jinan on July 13, 2023. Making loving replicas of homes that were demolished or otherwise swept away in China’s rapid modernization, some of the country’s miniaturists have become social media celebrities. (Qilai Shen/The New York Times).

A phone shows a livestream in progress from the studio of Li Yizhong, one of China’s most popular miniaturists, in Jinan on July 13, 2023. Making loving replicas of homes that were demolished or otherwise swept away in China’s rapid modernization, some of the country’s miniaturists have become social media celebrities. (Qilai Shen/The New York Times).

Sheng Peng works on a miniature of his family’s own home at his workshop in Baoding, China, on Aug. 1, 2023. Model makers in China are meeting a rising demand for miniature replicas of homes that have been demolished or otherwise swept away in the country’s rapid modernization. (Qilai Shen/The New York Times).

The site of the now-demolished house where Li Shanshan, a businesswoman in the city of Yantai, used to gather with relatives, on July 14, 2023. Li commissioned a miniature of the old home as a memento. “It’s not just something that you look at twice and then leave there,” she said. (Qilai Shen/The New York Times).

A miniature of a home, made for clients who wanted a keepsake of the site that was torn down for new development, in the workshop of Sheng Peng in Baoding, China, on Aug. 1, 2023. Model makers in China are meeting a rising demand for miniature replicas of homes that have been demolished or otherwise swept away in the country’s rapid modernization. (Qilai Shen/The New York Times).