After she was laid off from work, Zhang Ye'ai decided to become a thief catcher. In the last 10 years, she has caught 138 pickpockets and suspects, and provided police with more than 180 key clues.

Zhang, 44, of Ji'an, Shandong, is short and light, and ever since she was a young girl, learned martial arts and dreamed of catching crooks.

Since being laid off, she has scoured crowded markets and stores for suspicious characters. She once followed a thief for seven hours without eating anything and also tracked a thief in cold weather for fives days, leaving her hands and ears frostbitten.