text: A Chinese entrepreneur has quit his well-paid day job to revive the dying art of Chinese sword making. Jia Huaijin, 33, now hand-makes swords in rural China that sell for up to £22,000 each – nearly 18 times the monthly salary of Chinese president Xi Jinping or the average price for a 750-square-foot flat in Shanghai. Mr Jia uses the 2,000-year-old technique to make the traditional swords, which are highly sought after by international collectors from as far as Canada, reports The People's Daily Online. Warrior: Mr Huajin looks like he could have time travelled from the Han dynasty . Hammering away: The molten metal is forged and folded to create the sword . Red hot: The metal is heated in a furnace before it can be shaped . Master craftsman: Mr Huajin is now at home in his workshop, worlds away from his job as a civil servant . Swords feature prominently in ancient Chinese history and the blades made by Mr Jia would have been the type used by warriors in the Han Dynasty. However, the ancient art of sword making gradually declined over the years due to the time and effort it requires. Mr Jia, who now produces swords on the outskirts of Zhengzhou in central China, has previously already been a garage owner, a fish farmer, a sales rep for golfing equipment and a well-paid middle-manager at a state owned enterprise. He made the drastic change in career five years ago at the age of 28, when his job working as a manager in a government organisation left him feeling 'empty'. The craftsman, who looks like a Han Dynasty warrior with his hair tied back, said that he wanted to bring back the masterful act of his ancestors and pass it on to future generations. He decided to take the plunge and move to a remote wheat farm in Henan province with his wife to set up his own workshop. Handling the past: The technique dates back 2,000 years to the Han dynasty . Knife edge: Mr Jia made the life-changing decision to quit his well-paid job to bring back the dying ancient art . He makes the razor sharp swords with steel that is 3mm thick. After heating up the steel in a furnace, the molten metal is forged and folded into shape. The process was developed by sword smiths in order to improve the quality of the steel. At his workshop, swords of different sizes can be seen everywhere – even on tables inside his house – and each of them costs between £11,000 to £22,000. The master sword maker said that his interest in blades goes back to when he was a child. Back then his hobby was to place nails onto railway tracks and wait for trains to pass and press them into 'knives'. Gilded history: Swords have a prominent place in Chinese history and legend . Art work: Each of Mr Jia's swords have elaborated decorations of auspicious symbols such as dragons . Razor sharp: The thin blade can shave off the hair on your arm with the lightest of touches . He said that his wife had been fantastic in backing his ambitions: 'How can I not love a wife who would willingly come to this village to support me in my pursuit of a dream?' She said that all he needed were two packets of cigarettes and a bottle of wine to keep him going. Mr Jia is one of only a handful of craftsmen in China who have adopted this ancient technique of sword making. His work can be seen on display in a special showroom in the Han Dynasty museum in Zhengzhou. All change: He moved with his wife to a remote farm to set up his own workshop . Tempering with fire: Metal is heated up in a furnace, then forged and folded into shape . Restoration: Mr Jia wants to bring back the craft for future generations .
target: Jia Huaijin aspires to bring back 2,000-year-old sword making technique .
  Each sword is worth 18 times the monthly salary of the Chinese president .
  Blades are hand-crafted from steel that is 3mm thick and are razor sharp .
  Sword fanatics from as far as Canada have bought the expensive replicas .