"He wanted the bear the same as in his memory. As a boy, he liked to touch Mingming's mouth just before sleeping, which made him relax. But the smile was different after the repair," Zhu remembers.

Before another "surgery", they discussed every detail, including the hair color, facial expressions, angle of smile and even personality, to restore the bear.

"It was the first time that I understood why some people are so attached to their bears or dolls. The most important thing about toy restoration is the communication and observation with the owners, which helps to travel back into the owners' memory and try to get the moment they want to remember," Zhu says, adding that the toys represent a part of a memory or their childhood, which needs to be mended.

The experience inspired him to open the workshop and offer specialized treatment.

Zhu will carefully record every stage of the treatment and post images and short videos via social-media app WeChat so owners can keep track.

"If I fail to repair a toy, I will return it to the condition as when it was sent," he says.

Once a man sent a bear, which hadn't been washed for six years, because the last time he tried to wash it, three hairs fell out.

Under the man's close watch, Zhu used a soft toothbrush to scrub the bear. The cleaning took about six days but the man was satisfied, according to Zhu.

Besides cleaning, Zhu has spent a lot of time shopping in fabric markets and wool stores to look for materials that match the originals. Sometimes searching for threads of one particular color can take him several days.