Chinese tradition and business meet as incense makers prepare for Lunar New Year

In Fujian, an ancestral craft becomes an enterprise that is said to supply a third of the world’s demand

One producer whose company turns out 15 million incense sticks a day says he has bowed to automation but insists dyeing and drying be done by hand

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Incense-making in Yongchun county has become a generational business and the product has a worldwide reputation. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:27pm, 1 Jan 2020Updated: 8:54pm, 17 Feb 2020

Dozens of workers toiled through the night to coat thin lengths of bamboo in herbs, spices and richly coloured powders to create incense sticks that were spread out under the morning sun to dry.

It is an important time of year for the villagers of Yongchun county, a mountainous area of southeastern Fujian province that supplies much of the world’s incense.

The clock is ticking with the approach of the Lunar New Year this month, when countless Chinese will pray and burn incense at temples and in traditional ceremonies.

The craft of producing incense is long established in Dapu town, where Hong Zhongsen operates a family business that started generations ago.

“Making incense is very important for my family,” said Hong, 31. “It’s not just a business. It’s also to preserve an ancestral craft and a traditional religious culture.”

The area’s fortunes have long been tied to the nearby port city of Quanzhou, a conduit for overseas trade for centuries.

Incense sticks dry on wooden platforms at a factory in Quanzhou, Fujian province. Photo: AFP