Xiao Di, a 45-year-old entrepreneur from Dalian, Liaoning province, aims to be an icon of the "giant creature mechanical instrument art" in China.

The first such creature he made was an 11-meter-high mechanical horse that weighed 47 tons. It was powered by an internal combustion engine, which drove an electrical generator to operate more than 100 hydraulic cylinders.

The overall shape of the horse was borrowed from the tri-colored glazed horses of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Its main body consisted of a complex steel skeleton with 98 joints.

Based on intelligent controls and programming, the horse can be operated by four people and made to walk, rear up, and move its face like a real horse.

The video clip showing Xiao's interaction with the mechanical horse has attracted more than 1.8 million clicks on video platform Douyin.