Life of Guangzhou - Magic Cube, Magic Player

Both Zhang Zhenqing and his wife are big fans of Rubik's cubes. (Guangzhou Daily)

Although one of the world's best selling puzzles, Rubik's cubes remain a mystery to many people, an object closer related to magic than mathematics. But the twists and turns of this simple yet enigmatic toy are of no secret to Zhang Zhenqing, a 65-year-old retired policeman living in Guangzhou.

The Rubik's cube was invented 30 years ago by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. When Mr. Zhang first encountered this puzzle over 20 years ago he was so attracted to it he spent the whole night trying to solve it. He succeeded. After becoming familiar with it, he participated in many cube competitions and was seldom beaten. Today, it takes him only 10 minutes to restore a cube and can even solve the more complex cubes (4×4×4, 5×5×5 and even up to 11×11×11 models).

After mastering the basic skills of rearranging the cubes to reach solid colors on each six sides of the Rubik's cube, in 1991, he started creating patterns with these colors. Facing the difficulty of creating patterns on all sides of the cube, he spent nearly 10 years trying to solve the problem. By 2006, he had invented nine algorithms when only three had been published around the world. He believes he worked out an algorithm which is much simpler than previously published. Mr. Zhang has now written a 50,000 word essay about his study of the Rubik's cube.

"I only play it for fun" Zhang says, "I feel successful when I succeeded in simplifying the algorithm, so that everyone can remember it and enjoy the fun in solving this puzzle." His passion for this little cube has even influenced his family. His wife, after twenty years of seeing her husband play with his cubes, has become quite talented in her own right; his son was a Rubik's cube champion in high school; now even his seven-year-old grandson has started to penetrate the mystery of this enigmatic puzzle.

(By Estella Wang, David Keyton)