Zao Dao is something of a phenomenon in her native China, and comics scholar Paul Gravett interviewed her for his blog two years ago. Raised in a remote village, Zao Dao taught herself how to draw from books on classic Chinese art and the 20th-century comics known as lianhuanhua that she found in her village library. Later on she discovered Japanese manga and began using some of their storytelling techniques as well.
Her art blog on the Chinese social media site Weibo has drawn 150,000 followers, and her first book, a wordless graphic novel titled Song of Sylvan, was published on her 25th birthday. Her work has also been published in ArtReview magazine.
