China woman quits teaching to sell coffins to Europe, generating US$6 million sales annually
29-year-old whose hometown is known for its lightweight wood says she has no business fears because ‘people die every day’
In China, death is traditionally seen as a taboo and often tied to bad luck.
But in Heze, a city in eastern China’s Shandong province, this cultural barrier has given rise to a booming industry.
According to Personage magazine, Lisa Liu, 29, from Heze was once a teacher. Exhausted and hoarse from the pressure of work, Liu switched careers in July 2023.
After a chance interview, she went into coffin sales, focusing on the European market, particularly Italy.
Her boss took her on a tour of the factory, where she saw the entire coffin production process, from log cutting to carving and assembly.
To the workers, a coffin was just a wooden object. Some even used empty urns as storage boxes at home.
This helped Liu overcome her superstitions about coffins being “inauspicious”.
Unlike heavy, dark-coloured Chinese coffins, Italian ones are lighter and often feature religious carvings.