To create the basic unit of Chinese folding paper arts, cut a sheet of 8 x 11 paper widthwise in four equal sections. Fold the lower corners of each remaining rectangle toward the middle and bring them together to form an arrow shape. Fold the corners that form the broad end of the triangle into the center, making two small triangles. The whole shape will now be a diamond. Fold the diamond in half, then in half again until you have a triangle with pockets on the outside.
To make a sculpture you must make hundreds or even thousands of these origami triangles with the pockets on one side and pointy pieces on the other. Create a sculpture by tucking the pointy corners of two triangles into the pockets in another triangle. Many of these sculptures are very elaborate.
In 1993, a ship of 300 Chinese immigrants, called Golden Venture, ran aground in New York harbor. Several immigrants died in the attempt to get to shore. Many were taken to a prison where they remained for nearly four years, their status undefined. While there, many of them began to make the Chinese paper folding sculptures as a gift for those who helped them. They completed thousands of the sculptures. The pieces the refugees made became part of a Museum of the Chinese in the Americas exhibit called The Art of the Golden Venture Refugees.
Less is known about Chinese paper folding than paper folding in other countries, such as Japan. That's partly because of China's isolation, according the book "Asian Art." What is known is that paper was invented during China's Han Dynasty (25 to 220 A.D.). The Chinese art of paper folding was known as zhe zhi and is the predecessor to today's origami. In the 6th century A.D., Buddhist monks carried paper to Japan, which is when Japanese origami is believed to have begun.