Sun Shiqian, a Chinese artist, shows a robot head at his studio in Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

In the suburbs of Beijing, a 32-year-old engineer creates the kind of larger-than-life, shape-shifting robots that most have only seen in Transformers movies.

Sun Shiqian's roomy warehouse on the outskirts of Beijing houses a hulking menagerie, from a sleepy cow to a fiery metal dragon that stands 4.9 meters tall at the flip of a switch.

A graduate of China's prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts, Sun worked as an engineer before deciding to devote himself full time to what he calls "robot arts".

"As a child, I loved watching cartoons with robots," Sun says.

"But I noticed that they were all from either Japan or the United States. There were no Chinese robots."

At the World Robot Conference in Beijing in August, the sculptor showcased an ox with the mechanical ability to transform into a robot gladiator, equipped with steel abs and all.

The android is part of his series based on the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac.

In June, Sun unveiled a 5-meter-tall Monkey King inspired by the simian protagonist of China's famed Journey to the West.

Like his model, the 5-ton robot holds a golden cudgel - except his is 6.3 meters long.