Wang Xiaoqi likes to depict classical literature in her work, which sometimes has 50 people on one gourd.  Her engraved gourds are very traditional and the stories she portrays are ones she knows really well. She likes romance stories like Romeo and Juliette but mostly portrays Chinese classics since they are easier for her to understand than Western stories.  She often depicts the God of Heaven, who is the most important god, and she likes to portray stories about goddesses. She explains that there are 87 goddesses in Chinese mythology.  Another favorite subject is the horse because horses are favorite animals for the Chinese. She starts by reading novels and refers to the illustrations in the book to help stimulate her imagination. The most important thing, she says, is to show the personality of each character.  She explains that the illustration she selects depends partly on the shape of the gourd.